And after saying before the England game that Wales had more pride and passion than their neighbours, Bale said he knew some tough questions would be heading his way.
Advertisement
“Obviously it is massively disappointing, but I am very proud of everybody”, Real Madrid forward Bale told the BBC after the match in Lens.
But Bale expects Wales to impose themselves more against Russian Federation in Toulouse on Monday night as they go in search of the point which will probably be enough to book their place in the last 16. We are all helping each other to perform as well as we can. We have four points now and we should qualify. The fans have been brilliant and we just need to continue what we have been doing both on the pitch and off the pitch.
“I think it showed what a good squad we’ve got, with some very exciting young players”.
The fact that the Welsh back five went so narrow also meant there was more space for England full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker, who were increasingly influential as the second half went on.
Okay, so it wasn’t a ideal match, but in our Football Manager simulation we had England defeating Wales thanks to a late strike from Daniel Sturridge.
It was a change of personnel, rather than formation, that changed the game for England. But we shouldn’t forget that he has been awesome for us over a period of time. There was pressure on me before Euro ’96 started because I had not scored for England for 12 games over 21 months and, if I had not scored in the opening game against Switzerland, I could not have complained if Terry Venables had dropped me.
“We’ve taken a lot of attacking players with us on this occasion, so the options are there”.
The 29-year-old, however, declared himself fit for the decisive group clash against Russian Federation.
But he added: “That was the past and this is now”.
“It was a hyped up game, if you like, but now we’ve come out on top so we’re delighted”, he said.
“We all know it’s been a long time since Wales qualified, but we want to better that and give it a go”. But it was just a relief that we got over the line.
Meanwhile, Denis Glushakov, who scored for Russian Federation in their 2-1 defeat against Slovakia, knows they must up their game in order to salvage a disappointing European Championship campaign.
“Given the amount of work the boys put in, we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves”. There is a big game in a few days and we must stay strong and stay together.
“The games come thick and fast and each team has 23 players”.
Advertisement
“Hart has made mistakes in the past and I am sure he will recover from it”.
