Bale ale, or Bale beer, is only available at Elevens Bar and Grill, Gareth Bale’s pub opposite Cardiff Castle. Available in a special box for twelve pounds, containing two bottles and a glass. Or just off tap. Bale is ecstatic at the label, as he did on Sunday after the country’s first qualifier to the World Cup in 64 years.
Wales dreams upright. “It’s unbelievable, but reality,” national team manager Rob Page said at an out-of-town golf resort after a euphoric celebration he will never forget. Cardiff also craves Gareth Bale. Will the star footballer come home after he left Real Madrid, to the club from the city where he was born and raised, until the move to Spurs at the age of 16? Bale decided only after a possible placement for the World Cup to seriously think about his future. Cardiff is an option, although the club plays in the Championship. “Gareth hasn’t told me where he’s going yet,” Page said on the first of many questions about Bale.
Inducing goosebumps
Bale ale and other brands of lager went on tap in unprecedented quantities following the decisive victory over Ukraine on Sunday, following Jarmolenko’s unfortunate extended free kick by Bale, the first footballer to pass the 100 million transfer fee. Bale led the goosebump-inducing congregational singing on Sunday, where the crowd was moved to tears when the players performed the Celtic song with folk singer Dafydd Iwan. Yma o Hyd initiated.
On Monday night, 24 hours after the folk festival, the streets are virtually dead, according to Football Association press secretary Owain Harris due to the high number of hangovers. Pub Elevens is empty. Company director Beth Cook shows a photo of her posing with Bale at the upstairs party. “I think Gareth had one beer. He’s a real sportsman.’
Shirts and other relics hang everywhere. Inside a glass box is the replica of the Champions League cup from the 2016 final against Juventus, one of the five times Bale has won the trophy. Signed shirts by Bale himself, Pelé, Maldini, Ronaldo. In the hallway to the toilets, Bergkamp hangs between Curry (basketball) and Baresi.
Farewell in silence
Also in the cafe is the photo of Bale’s spectacular bicycle kick against Liverpool in the 2018 final. Bale’s farewell to Real Madrid recently took place in silence, also because he never really learned Spanish, sometimes seemed to find golf more important than football and missed roughly half of the matches due to injuries. He is not fit enough for so many games in a row. Page: ‘I will give experienced players a rest against the Netherlands. Young people are given the opportunity to gain experience.’
About the importance of Bale: ‘That is immense. Not only because of his class on the field, but also because of the professional culture that has grown within our association thanks to him. He has incredible influence as a modeling pro.’ Young international Brennan Johnson: ‘On the bench I always pay attention to what Gareth is doing. How he passes and positions himself.’
Important goals
Bale scored the important goals, such as a free kick in the corner during the previous play-off against Austria. History was made with him. At the previous World Cup with Wales, the quarterfinals were lost to Brazil, with a goal by the then 17-year-old Pelé. On a terrace, Roy Hill says that he was born in that year, in 1958. Sorry about Bale, but Pelé remains his favorite footballer, no matter how happy he is with all those fresh stories for eternity. ‘A friend left for the stadium at three o’clock on Sunday. After the game he went to the pub. At 10 p.m. he was walking home, but he heard singing in another cafe and stepped inside. Then he went to a party at someone’s house. His wife found him asleep on the couch the next day, with his clothes on.’
Everywhere they are happy and proud with Bale, although Tuesday is not the best day for a spontaneous visit to Whitchurch High School, his high school from the past. A tour of the Wall of Fame, which also includes photos of Geraint Thomas (cycling) and Sam Warburton (rugby), is impossible. The exams for the children in uniform are in full swing. The sports fields are great. Gymnastics teacher Gwyn Morris told de Volkskrant in 2013 that Bale was good at any sport, that as a 14-year-old he ran the 100 meters in 11.4 seconds. Morris sometimes left Bale alone with his right leg, because otherwise it was too easy for him.
Stefan de Vrij replaces Virgil van Dijk, who is on vacation, on Wednesday in the Nations League match against Wales. De Vrij is not only a central defender, but also captain. National coach Van Gaal gave the basic team last Friday in Brussels (1-4) an extra day off and will make more changes, because he wants to see players in the run-up to the World Cup and because fatigue strikes.
“If even Davy Klaassen is tired, it has been an intense match,” said Van Gaal. “I want to see a lot of players. Can they handle the stress of the Dutch national team? Teun Koopmeiners did great at Atalanta, but he has not yet reached his level in the Dutch national team.’ It’s about team building towards the World Cup. ‘2014 (third) was a miracle. We can provide another miracle, because the best team at the World Cup wins.’
De Vrij and Matthijs de Ligt, from Inter and Juventus, were on the bench against the Belgians. Van Gaal doesn’t know how there are so many good central defenders in the country that used to look for such pawns. The national coach called Van Dijk ‘the general of putting pressure’ and thinks that De Vrij can fulfill that role. According to Van Gaal it is a coincidence, all those good central defenders. “It’s a matter of parental genes.”