Bale continues to ‘lead by example’ in Wales’ push for 2022 World Cup

Even over lunch in Hensol on Friday Robert Page could not resist indulging in a replay or two of Gareth Bale’s irresistible free-kick, even if every viewing descended into the pair giggling at the sheer magnificence of it. “I just burst out laughing,” the interim Wales manager says. “He was laughing about it as well. It is the best free-kick I’ve ever seen in my life … if he stood in the corner with the ball in his hand, you couldn’t place it any closer into the corner. To do that when the pressure’s on, in a big game, it speaks volumes about him, not only as a player but as a person and as a character.”

His character has been lampooned in Spain, the newspaper Marca branding the Wales captain a “parasite” alongside a graphic depicting Bale as an insect sucking blood from the Real Madrid badge on the eve of Thursday’s win over Austria. It perhaps explains why Bale celebrated his two extraordinary goals in Cardiff by repeatedly beating the dragon crest on his shirt. On Friday he took aim in a lengthy social media post at “parasite” journalists, pointing out the damage negative articles can cause and calling for change in the way “we publicly talk about and criticise people” for not meeting “often unrealistic expectations”.

Bale’s timely masterclass on the pitch makes his exile in Spain all the more mystifying and his agent, Jonathan Barnett, has suggested the 32-year-old’s future will be dictated by whether Wales reach Qatar in November.

Page may have been pushing it when saying Bale would walk on broken glass down the M4 to play for Wales but it is impossible to question the forward’s contribution. “He’s the first one on camp, every camp,” Page says. “He leads by example. He is a massive part of the culture that Gary