AL-RAYYAN, Qatar – He’s a teenage phenom turned worldwide superstar who’s won five UEFA Champions League titles, about a dozen other team honors and myriad individual awards. Already long since an icon in his homeland, he was one of the highest-paid players in the world for much of his time at Real Madrid. And earlier this year he moved to sunny Southern California just in time to become an MLS Cup-winning hero for LAFC in Hollywood fashion.Yet you could almost feel sorry for Gareth Bale on Sunday as he recounted the angst he and the rest of his nation felt as their Welsh national team missed out on the sport’s biggest party over and over again for his entire lifetime – and three decades before that as well.“I think France ‘98 was probably my first memory,” the winger told reporters one day before Wales’ Group B clash with the U.S. men’s national team, their first World Cup match since 1958. “I just remember having this pencil case with the logo on it and everything.“Watching World Cups, it was always a little bit disappointing because Wales wasn’t there,” he continued. “As a kid not having your country in a World Cup, it does take that little bit of specialness away from it. So for Wales to have their country in the World Cup now will be an incredible thing for not just the youngsters, but for the whole nation.”Bale’s dazzling skill has been the crown jewel for his talented generation of Welsh players. And after hauling their nation – which largely favored rugby over soccer until they hit the scene – out of the footballing doldrums with a run to the Euro 2016 semifinals in their first major tournament appearance in over half a century, Qatar ‘22 represents a chance to seal their legacy.He makes clear that he is indeed thinking about the long term, too.“Everybody’s dreamt of it for such a long time. We’ve had so many close calls,” said Bale of his national team, which for so long labored in the shadow of neighboring England, who they’ll meet in their third group-stage match later this month. “For us to be the team that was to get over the line was incredible for us. But most importantly, the best thing was to do it for our country, to grow football in our country, to inspire another generation, to get more kids playing football. Because by doing that, we’re hopefully going to have a stronger national team in the future.”
Welsh manager Rob Page cast his team as the underdogs in Monday’s matchup, perhaps understandably for a nation of just over 3 million people with a fiercely proud identity which they see reflected in their national team.“You look at England and USA and naturally people will be talking about them as the top two, ourselves and Iran then,” said Page. “But we know on our day – we’ve proven in the Nations League against Belgium, against a very good Dutch team, we can more than compete as well. So look, we’re new to the tournament and there might be a few surprises along the way.“So there’s no pressure on us. We’re going to enjoy it, but we’re going to compete. And I said to the group, I’ve said before the press: We’re not here to make the numbers up. We’re here because we’ve earned the right to be here. We’re a good team. And we want to show the world how good we are.”A litany of soft-tissue injuries wrecked the latter stages of Bale’s time at Real Madrid, and rendered him a luxury supersub for LAFC. He’s often patched himself up to play the hero for Wales over the years, though, and sounded confident of doing so again here.“I’m right where I want to be,” said Bale. “I’m here, night before the first game and ready to go. Yeah, we’ve all been training hard the last week, adapting to the heat, the time zones and we have no excuses now. We put all the hard work in and game-time tomorrow, that’s where we hopefully can step back and deliver what needs to be delivered.”
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