Wales captain Gareth Bale gave a passionate plea to a teammate to keep going in the heat of battle during the nerve-wracking World Cup opener against the USA on Monday night. Wales were outplayed and outfought for the first half in the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan as they got their Qatar 2022 World Cup campaign underway.
Wales failed to produce any clear-cut opportunities and were fortunate to go in at the break only one goal behind. But a change in approach at half-time - and the introduction of striker Kieffer Moore - made all the difference as Wales suddenly had a spring in their step and an outlet in the final third who allowed other players to move up the pitch and get involved in the game.
All of a sudden there was far more energy in the legs of the Wales players, but a few seemed to be struggling towards the end of the game with cramp and other minor issues. Gareth Bale himself played a full 90 minutes despite having limited time on the pitch since his move to Los Angeles FC in June.
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During the second half last night, Bale was caught by television cameras imploring his teammates to keep going as the adrenaline and physical demands of a first World Cup encounter since 1958 began to take their toll on tired legs. To an unknown player who was not captured on screen, the Wales captain says: “Just keep running, I know you’re tired, but you’ve just got to f****** do it.”
Whoever the advice was aimed at, it seemed to do the trick as Wales had the better of the play in the second half and could even have snatched an opening win. In the end they had to settle for a draw - Bale was fouled in the box with nine minutes left and picked himself up to thump a ferocious left-footed penalty to the left of the USA goalkeeper and into the corner.
Warning: Bad language
Wales boss Rob Page revealed after the game that he asked Bale if he was OK to continue with around 15 minutes left, given the skipper's lack of match practice in the run-up to the tournament. Page said: "He looks after himself, I’ve said it time and time again. Irrespective of what he does at club level, he manages to pull the jersey on for Wales and give performances that surprise people and he certainly surprised me today.
"I said to him on about 75 minutes ‘are you okay to carry on?’ and he went ‘yeah I’m fine’, and at the end of the game he said ‘that’s why I stayed on - for the penalty’. He looks after himself, he manages himself, he manages himself through games. If he’d have gone full-tilt from the first whistle, he probably wouldn’t have lasted until half-time. But he’s very experienced and clever at managing his body.”
That penalty and the draw it earned Wales was the least the side deserved after a fine second half performance, and all eyes now turn to the second match of the group against Iran which takes place on Friday morning at 10am (UK time).
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