Gareth Bale

[TW3Bee]

Tickets for Wales v Cyprus were on general sale from only £20. Next game away to
Belgium in
November.

What was the atendance?

Looked like there was a lot of empty seats, and not just in the Cyprus section.

 

[wanderer paul]

He is also prepared to turn up for internationals unlike Ryan Giggs who did very little for his national side. To think that Harry Redknapp was prepared to offload him from Spurs, says it all.

Giggs 'turned up' for competitive matches, but probably felt 'tired' - or Fergie just told him, "you ain't going son!" - for the pointless friendlies.

26k watched the Wales game.

Always thought that International Friendly matches should be just 'B' caps. Only competitive matches should be classed as a Full Cap. :shrug: I wonder what the caps awarded table would look like then? :computer:

 

[kevalutonbee]

Giggs 'turned up' for competitive matches, but probably felt 'tired' - or Fergie just told him, "you ain't going son!" - for the pointless friendlies.

26k watched the Wales game.

Always thought that International Friendly matches should be just 'B' caps. Only competitive matches should be classed as a Full Cap. :shrug: I wonder what the caps awarded table would look like then? :computer:

So that's where Stirling got the idea from

 

[TW3Bee]

Giggs 'turned up' for competitive matches, but probably felt 'tired' - or Fergie just told him, "you ain't going son!" - for the pointless friendlies.

26k watched the Wales game.

Always thought that International Friendly matches should be just 'B' caps. Only competitive matches should be classed as a Full Cap. :shrug: I wonder what the caps awarded table would look like then? :computer:

How do you stand with sustitute appearences?

David Beckham, towards the end of his career was coming on for a few minutes to get him over and above 100 caps.

 

[kevalutonbee]

How do you stand with sustitute appearences?

David Beckham, towards the end of his career was coming on for a few minutes to get him over and above 100 caps.

Bit like KOC and the 500 appearances

 

[Billy Hunt]

BBC Breakfast news' sports presenter described Wales' 2-1 win over Cyprus as 'heroic'. rofl rofl rofl

 

[wanderer paul]

How do you stand with sustitute appearences?

David Beckham, towards the end of his career was coming on for a few minutes to get him over and above 100 caps.

Eh? :scratch:

If it's a competitive match, it's a Full Cap, no matter whether the player started or came on as a sub.

Beckham also started the games which got him to 100 caps. He was sub towards the end, which got him to 115.

 

[homelessbee]

This got me thinking of Steve Claridge's scouting report of Bale when he was just coming through at Southampton.

Apologies if it's posted elsewhere on this thread but I'll just put it here anyway, so we can all point and laugh

Gareth Bale Scouting Report

A lot has been made of Bale because he is so young but what must be remembered is he is a left-back, not another Ryan Giggs. Even at this early age I'm not sure he's the type of player who has the ability going forward to be a worldbeater, but he's on the path to being a fantastic defender. Because he is left-footed he has a great advantage. He is going to have a long and successful career sticking to what he can rather than what he cannot do.

:tongue:

 

[Banana]

Is there no end to this man's talent?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32133185

 

[Bigbee]

Is there no end to this man's talent?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32133185

He should take Real Madrids throw ins

 

[Beat Poet]

Gareth Bale: Wales captain retires from football aged 33

Wales captain Gareth Bale announces his retirement from football at the age of 33.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[shaun]

Thought he retired about 5 seasons ago? ?

 

[JANORAK]

Thought he retired about 5 seasons ago? ?

He hasn’t looked “on it” for about that long, except for Wales.

 

[wibs]

How's he going to make ends meet now that he no longer has a regular income?

 

[Col T]

A very odd last 2-3 years of his career...

 

[Leonardo]

How's he going to make ends meet now that he no longer has a regular income?

Become a pro golfer

 

[Banana]

Become a pro golfer

wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Wise old Bee]

Legend. Not only won three CLs but scored the winning goal in two finals. Also scored the late equaliser for DC Utd in the US cup final which took the game to penalties which they won.

 

[Cham]

Great career.

 

[wibs]

Easy to forget how good he was. This for example

 

[YouReds123]

Extremely disrespected footballer. Started at Cardiff Civil Service FC and ended up with 5 Champions League winners medals. Unbelievable career

 

[JCMcBee]

.... remember watching in awe at a young Bale rip West Ham apart at Upton Park....and thinking... he's the real deal....and he was....his latter years as a professional footballer.... similar to Ronaldo....are not my endearing memory....he was a very good and talented footballer..... haircuts were pony mind.

 

[Wise old Bee]

Legend. Not only won three CLs but scored the winning goal in two finals. Also scored the late equaliser for DC Utd in the US cup final which took the game to penalties which they won.

Five CLs actually........

 

[BFC1997]

Should have retired earlier than he did.

 

[Shamrock_Bee]

He would have a shout as being Britain's greatest ever player. The goal at the San Siro for Spurs, despite the dynamic his impact on those Real Champions League winning teams and his unplayable performances at Euro 2016 is enough to reflect how good he was. Britain don't produce too many genuine world class players, but he was certainly one.

 

[BFC1997]

Should have retired earlier than he did.

Adding to this; he was a great player in his prime, under-appreciated in this country because he played for Wales (not England) and spent his best years playing in Spain.

It’s fairly clear that by the final few years of his career, he didn’t enjoy being a footballer anymore. He wanted to play, especially in big games for Wales. That desire got him to another World Cup - but only as a shadow of himself. Maybe that was worth it for him, and for Wales fans, but as a “fan of the game” it was a bit of a sorry sight.

 

[finsbury_bee]

I think his best years were the last couple of seasons at spurs, he had so much promise and earnt the move to Real Madrid and was expected to challenge Ronaldo and Messi's status, but seems daft to say but felt it never quite happened for him. Yes he won x leagues and champions leagues, but those are team achievements and he was never as important to the team as players like Modric and Ronaldo during that period. His individual stats and accolades were not at the top level over a long period of time, so I personally think chat of him being, for example, the greatest British player, are wide of the mark. Feels like he could have been even better, whether that is down to application or issues at Real I don't know.

 

[Wise old Bee]

Yes he won x leagues and champions leagues, but those are team achievements and he was never as important to the team as players like Modric and Ronaldo during that period.

He turned the CL finals against Atletico and Liverpool and scored the winning goals in both. Shame how it turned out in the end at Real but he never backed down when they tried to move him on. "Wales - Golf - Real Madrid" served them right.

 

[Gazza Bee]

In his prime was probably 3rd best player in the world behind Messi and Ronaldo for 2-3 seasons. However best British footballer ever - not sure he is Wales' best player ever with Giggs in the equation too, arguably best British player of his generation alongside Rooney.