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Gareth Bale still proving his critics wrong
Gareth Bale is congratulated by his teammates after scoring against Austria

AS WALES supporters prepared to celebrate their 2-1 playoff semi-final victory against Austria yesterday, there was a moment of worry as Gareth Bale felt his groin on leaving the Cardiff City Stadium pitch with two minutes of added time remaining.

Wales’s greatest-ever player had just scored two world-class goals to put them another step closer to qualifying for this year’s World Cup.

Almost immediately after the twinge of concern that accompanied the twinge of a groin muscle, will have come the moment of relief, as Wales fans remembered Bale will not be playing football again until their play-off final in June.

There may be some exaggeration about that last line, as the 32-year-old is likely to play for his club, Real Madrid before then, but he’ll be far from the first name on Carlo Ancelotti’s team sheet, even when fit.

There is generally plenty of hyperbole around his situation in Spain, which has snowballed over the years.

The famous image of Bale with a Welsh flag bearing the words: “Wales. Golf. Real Madrid. In that order,” after his country defeated Hungary in 2019 and qualified for Euro 2020 is part of it, as are the constant references to Bale enjoying his golf and only caring about playing for Wales when it comes to football.

Criticism of Bale from the Madrid media has been a theme of his time at the club, and this intensifies when Bale is on international duty.

Over the years, sly digs about injuries, not speaking the language well, and playing golf have grown into full-blown attacks.

The “Wales, golf, Madrid” flag itself was a response from Wales fans to a comment from Cadena Ser pundit Pedja Mijatovic who said of Bale: “the first thing he thinks about is Wales, then golf, and after that, Real Madrid. I haven’t spoken to him, but that’s how he comes across.”

It was meant to be criticism, but it became praise, especially in the eyes of Wales fans.

The latest attack ahead of the game against Austria was perhaps the most extraordinary yet.

The headline in Marca read: El parasito gales — “the Welsh parasite.” This wasn’t just a sensational headline to attract readers to a more considered article. Its writer, Manuel Julia Dorado, went even further.

“The Bale parasite came from the cold and rainy Britannia,” the article began.

“He settled in Spain, at Real Madrid, where, masked, he first showed diligence and love for the host, but then his nature led him to suck blood without giving anything in return.

“Well, more than blood, he sucked, and sucks, the club’s Euros.

“Unlike others of its kind, such as the flea, the louse or the bedbug, the Bale parasite does not cause itching or illnesses in its host, but after sucking, it laughs and makes fun of it, showing a jocular contempt for the one of whom he lives.”

It’s reached a stage where Bale can only joke about it. The alternative would be a mentally draining media war which would no doubt affect his career, day-to-day life, and his performances with Wales.

Luckily, Bale is able to approach it all in a light-hearted fashion and not let it affect his time with Wales or allow the problem to seep in and affect the atmosphere there.

When asked if his performance against Austria sent a message to the Madrid media, Bale replied: “I don’t need to send a message, honestly. It’s a waste of my time. It’s disgusting, and they should also be ashamed of themselves. I’m not fussed. End of.”

Even though he happens to be one of the best big-game players in the history of the sport, Bale is a humble leader at international level.

He sees himself as part of the squad, is quick to deflect praise onto others, and is quick to laugh off or divert any of the high-profile stories coming from Spain which are inevitably brought up in interviews.

This only incenses the Madrid press further, but Bale has been a big game player for Real as well as for Wales.

He has contributed to many of the biggest moments in the club’s recent history. He scored winning goals in two Champions League finals and a penalty in a shootout in another as they won the competition four times in five years.

He scored one of the best goals the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) has seen to defeat Barcelona in the 2014 final. After that goal, a Spanish commentator compared the Welshman to Usain Bolt as he sprinted around a helpless Marc Barta on the left touchline, even leaving the pitch in the process, before executing the all-important finish past Jose Manuel Pinto.

And those Champions League goals included an overhead kick against Liverpool in 2018 which was one of the best goals the competition, never mind a final, has seen.

Even away from the Champions League, he has 81 goals and 46 assists from 149 La Liga starts. In all competitions, he has 106 goals for the club, which is more than Fernando Morientes, Ivan Zamorano, and the Brazilian Ronaldo, and only 15 less than Gonzalo Higuain.

Real broke the transfer record when they signed Bale in 2013, which is the source of some of the nonsense in the Spanish media that he has not lived up to expectations.

But he has more Champions League titles as a player for the club than previous record signings Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Kaka combined, while another record signing, Cristiano Ronaldo, has the Welshman to thank for a couple of his.

And those medals weren’t merely for being part of the squad — Bale contributed greatly.

He has rolled with the criticism rather than risen to it, almost leaning into the stereotypes the media created for him.

In the meantime, he has, almost by default due to the significance of moments in which he contributed and the way he did so, become one of the club’s great players.

You can’t look back at the Real’s historic Champions League successes of recent years without seeing Bale playing a key role. From La Decima (tenth European Cup) in 2014 to the three in a row between 2016 and 2018, he’s both part of the success and a reason for it.

As Bale fired home one of the best free-kicks you’re likely to see, along with a convincingly taken second goal to secure the win for Wales against Austria on Thursday, he looked like the type of player Real Madrid might sign.

That he’s already there but unfavoured, to say the least, appears to be a problem with the club rather than the player, especially as it’s a situation that looks to be repeating itself with Eden Hazard.

Given the greats who have worn the red shirt in the past, becoming Wales’s best-ever player is no easy feat, but Bale has managed it.

Becoming a Real Madrid great has not been easy, either. Being accepted as such in Madrid at this moment in time seems nigh on impossible.

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