Gareth Bale says World Cup qualification for Wales is the ‘final piece of the jigsaw’ of his glittering career.
Gareth Bale became the most decorated British player in Champions League history last week when Real Madrid beat Liverpool in the final.
The 32-year-old has now won the competition 5 times. However, playing for Real Madrid helps with that.
Those achievements pale in significance in comparison to sending Wales to their first World Cup in 64 years.
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Gareth Bale did so with a free kick which led to the only goal in Wales’ 1 – 0 win over Ukraine in the playoff final on Sunday.
With the likes of Bale and Aaron Ramsey, the 2022 World Cup represents this Welsh team’s last hurrah. And what a hurrah it is. After qualifying for the Euros in 2016 and 2020, Wales will now play on the biggest stage of them all.
“It’s been a crazy journey from where we were to qualify for two European Championships and a World Cup,” said Bale.
“It’s literally what dreams are made of, especially for all of us who have been there from the start.
“We’ve paved the way for the youngsters as well, we’ve welcomed them in and it’s hard to describe what it means to us.
“I think we were too young (to have targets) when we started. We were just happy playing for Wales.
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“But we’ve been playing with each other for a long time now. You just get better and you grow.
“Players become bigger and stronger and we’ve gelled well as a team. There’s no egos in our team, we just fight for each other.”
“If you’d asked me when I was a young kid to do what I’ve done in my career…I would have taken 10 per cent of it.
“This is the final piece in the jigsaw, to play at a World Cup.
“To do what we’ve done for this nation, to put them on the world stage, the world map, it’s everything for these fans. That’s what we try to do for them.”
