Gareth Bale has branded the criticism of him in the Spanish press as ‘disgusting’ and made a pointed comment on his lack of game time at Real Madrid after putting in a good display for Wales.
Despite playing just two games for Real since the end of August, he showed no signs of rustiness as he netted twice in a Man-of-the-Match display in Wales’ 2-1 win over Austria in their World Cup qualification play-off.
The former Tottenham star opened the scoring with a superb first-half free-kick that arrowed into the top corner, before doubling his tally after the restart with another exceptional left-footed finish.
Although Austria grabbed a goal back through Marcel Sabitzer, Wales managed to hang on and will now play either Scotland or Ukraine in the summer for a place at the World Cup later this year.
Hours before Bale’s heroics for the national team, the Welshman had been the subject of an attack from the Spanish newspaper Marca who accused him of ‘sucking’ Madrid’s money.
Asked if he had sent a message to those critics with his display on Thursday, Bale told Sky Sports: ‘I don’t need to send a message, honestly.
‘I don’t need to send anything, it’s a waste of my time. It’s just disgusting and they should also be ashamed of themselves. I’m not fussed, end of.’
Real manager Carlo Ancelotti has frequently overlooked Bale this campaign despite the Spanish giants often looking short on ideas in attack, but he knows he is still capable of moments of magic if he is given the chance to be on the pitch.
He continued: ‘I can hit a free-kick if I am able to play! It was nice to see it go in. The early goal gave us that momentum and the second one was nice as well.’
He added: ‘I had some cramp at the end which I guess is normal but l will run into the ground for this country and we all did that tonight.
‘That’s half the job done. We will enjoy tonight. There is still another tough game against either Scotland or Ukraine and we will be ready for that when it comes.’
Speaking about Bale’s performance, his teammate Aaron Ramsey said: ‘It’s not been easy for [Bale] but him coming and playing for his country, it means everything to him. You can see that from the way he plays.’
