Sunday read: Together, Bale and Wales look to move from Danish pasting

Wales' Gareth Bale shows his frustration during their 4-0 defeat at the hands of Denmark in Amsterdam on Saturday

Euro 2020, Round of 16: Wales 0 Denmark 4

AT least there was one, not insignificant crumb of comfort for Wales after their uncharacteristically toothless exit from the European Championships in Amsterdam as the great Gareth Bale mystery looked to have reached a satisfactory resolution.

The Principality’s one true world-class performer had found his international future the topic of much debate in the build-up to, and immediate aftermath of, his country’s last 16 tie.

Reports suggested he would retire from the international stage at the end of the current tournament, a position he hardly helped clarify when he refused to answer a television interviewer’s question on the topic immediately upon the final whistle at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

In Bale’s defence, he had every right not to have to deal with such a question within seconds of his country’s ignominious exit and, with the benefit of a little longer cooling-off period, appeared adamant that this desultory display will not be the end of his Wales career.

“I want to continue to play,” he told Welsh television. "People ask stupid questions all the time. I love playing for Wales. I will play for Wales until the day I stop playing football."

In truth, it must have been a relatively easy decision to make for Bale, and one possibly made even easier by the fact he would not want his 96-cap career to have ended on such a negative note.

Wales are only two games in to their qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup, the Finals of which are less than 18 months away.

They have made a strong start, with a predictable defeat at a Belgium side that is hot favourites to top the group and win the automatic berth available for Qatar. But a dramatic 1-0 win over the Czech Republic in March has filled Wales with hope that they can grab the second place that will advance them to the play-offs.

Without Bale, that looked a tall order. With him, not so much.

"We've just started the World Cup campaign. We were just saying in there now, we need to take this experience into the World Cup campaign," said Bale.

"I feel like we have a very good way of playing when we play well. We just need to keep that confidence high, keep playing football and I think we can qualify for the next World Cup."

Another compelling reason for the 31-year-old Bale to continue his international interests lies in the relatively disappointing trajectory his club career is taking in its final seasons.

Reports before the Euros even suggested that Bale, whose season at Tottenham last year could hardly be described as an unqualified success, will see out the final year remaining on his Real Madrid contract and then retire from the sport all together - presumably with a delay added, should Wales have reached the World Cup Finals that take place in the Middle East in November.

For now, Bale will return to Spain this summer for discussions about his future with Real while Denmark continue an emotional campaign that started with the horrendous scenes that followed Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest in the opening group loss to Finland.

Indeed, they've have become the first team to reach the knock-out stages of the Euros after losing their opening two group games - and the first in the Finals history to score four in consecutive matches after their memorable last group game victory over Russia was followed by this emphatic scoreline.

Wales’ apologists pointed to the huge advantage Denmark enjoyed in support in Amsterdam - with Wales supporters banned from travelling due to Covid-19 restrictions - as well as the extensive travelling Robert Page’s team had been forced to endure.

But as they exited through two goals from Kasper Dolberg and further late efforts from Joakim Maehle and Martin Braithwaite, Wales simply folded, with substitute Harry Wilson showing their loss of discipline when shown a straight red card for a lunge at Maehle.

It may take even more than Bale’s excellence for Wales to recover from this, but at least they now appear increasingly certain to have their iconic leader in their ranks for some time yet.

WALES (4-2-3-1): Ward 6; Roberts 6 (N Williams 40, 5), Mepham 5, Rodon 6, B Davies 6; Morrell 5 (Wilson 59, 5), Allen 5; Bale 7, Ramsey 5, James 6 (Brooks 78, 5); Moore 6 (Roberts 77, 6). 

Subs not used: Hennessey, Gunter, Lockyer, J Williams, A Davies, Levitt, Cabango, Smith.

DENMARK (3-4-2-1): Schmeichel 6; Andreas Christensen 9, Kjaer 7 (Andersen 77, 6), Vestergaard 7; Larsen 7 (Boilesen 76, 6), Hojbjerg 7, Delaney 7 (Jensen 60, 7), Maehle 8; Braithwaite 7, Damsgaard 8 (Norgaard 60, 6); Dolberg 8 (Cornelius 69, 7). 

Subs not used: Skov, Olsen, Jorgensen, Lossl, Wind, Cornelius, Ronnow, Anders Christiansen.

Referee: D Siebert (Germany) 5 Ends`