Gareth Bale was an inspirational, generational talent

Wales is a country that often feels sidelined, but he became an ambassador that couldn’t be ignored

HERO: Gareth Bale acknowledges supporters. Pic: PA

It was thrilling. Having a player in a Wales shirt who was capable of the miraculous, with a passion for representing his country that crackled like electricity. For close to 17 years, we revelled in the terror he sparked in opposition fans, a panic that during the peak of his career seemed to throb from the away end in Cardiff.

Even when time had caught up with him and he was no longer the dynamic, explosive winger of his youth, Gareth Bale’s abilities with a dead ball still caused opposition pulses to quicken and mouths to dry if Wales were awarded a free-kick anywhere in the final third.