Gareth Bale Not Giving Up On His World Cup Dream

Wales international Gareth Bale has refused to give up on his World Cup dream, despite missing out on the global tournament in Russia this summer. The 28-year-old suffered a calf problem during the latter stages of Wales’ qualifying campaign, and he had to watch helplessly watch at his country were ousted by the Republic of Ireland.

Despite the disappointment, the attacker remains keen on realising his World Cup dream, and motivated to guide Wales to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he said: “It was a massive disappointment for all of us not to reach the World Cup having experienced the Euros, which was incredible. But normally if we do well in one campaign we die away in the next. We were right there until the end, so we have to take the positives. Losing and missing out on the World Cup makes us even hungrier to qualify next time.”

Bale has won 10 major trophies since his switch to Real Madrid during the summer of 2013, and this includes three Champions League titles. However, he has not managed to deliver similar success with the Wales national side, who are not blessed with many top-quality players in their ranks other than him and Aaron Ramsey.

Wales were one of the surprise packages at Euro 2016 as they progressed all the way to the semi-final stage, but repeating the feat remains a huge ask unless they can develop their young players at a quicker rate. The likes of Ben Woodburn and Ethan Ampadu are regarded to have the potential to become world-beaters for the nation, and as such, Bale remains more motivated than ever to help Wales reach their maiden World Cup since 1958. Wales may not be participating at the summer World Cup finals in Russia, but they have a friendly against Mexico to look forward to, following the end of the football season.