Gareth Bale to postpone retirement 'for a little bit' after Wales qualify for Qatar World Cup with win over Ukraine
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ByEurosport
Updated 05/06/2022 at 19:25 GMT
Gareth Bale's football future is a mystery with the former Real Madrid winger currently a free agent. The 32-year-old is reportedly keen to sign a short-term contract with a club to maintain his fitness before Wales take part in their first World Cup since 1958. He has been linked with Cardiff City. After Wales sealed their place for Qatar, Bale says he will delay his retirement for now.
Gareth Bale
Image credit: Getty Images
Gareth Bale says he will postpone his retirement plans "for a little bit" after Wales qualified for the World Cup in Qatar with a 1-0 win over Ukraine in Cardiff.
Bale's free-kick was turned into the net by Ukraine's Andriy Yarmolenko in the 34th minute in Sunday's World Cup play-off final and it proved to be the difference as Wales reached the World Cup for the first time in 64 years.
Bale announced his Real Madrid departure last week following the expiration of his contract after nine trophy-laden years at the club. When quizzed before the World Cup play-off decider if he had any offers, he light-heartedly replied: "I've got loads!"
He was asked after Wales' historic win if retirement talk would be categorically postponed for now, responding: "For a little bit."
Bale also said Wales qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar, which gets underway on November 21, is the "greatest result" in Welsh football history.
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Wales' Gareth Bale celebrates with his teammates after beating Ukraine 1-0
Image credit: Getty Images
"The result is the greatest result in the history of Welsh football," the Wales captain said.
"We're ecstatic, we're going to a World Cup.
"It's what dreams are made of, it's what we've been working towards since we first came here.
"I'm speechless, we're so happy, we did it for all our amazing fans and words can't describe how I'm feeling at the moment.
"It was a difficult game, I haven't done so much over the last four weeks because of my back spasm, it was tough to get through the game but the most important thing was to get through."
Wales midfielder Joe Allen said about Wales' qualification: "It's hard to put into words. We've been dreaming of this for a long time now. We've had to ride our luck at time, call on Wayne and defend for our lives, but let the celebrations begin.
"I'd love to say we were calm, it was tough, I got booked early on but I think we got it together.
"We've come a very long way, we want to make sure this carries on. The quality has gone through the roof, and a World Cup will be incredible to see. The young players are carrying us now. The future is bright."
Striker Kieffer Moore added: "It's hard to put into words. I'm unbelievably proud of everyone, it's been some mission to get here and thankfully we got over the line.
"It means everything. This is years and years of hard work, if I said six or seven years ago I'm going to be playing in the Premier League [with Bournemouth] and going to a World Cup, no-one would've believed me.
"To actually get here is a real pinch myself moment."
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