Gareth Bale is football icon, golf hero and table tennis terror… just don’t ask him to sing, say Wales pals
GARETH BALE is a football superstar with a golf handicap of three — but Wales’ talisman does have one flaw… he cannot sing!
The Dragons captain is preparing to win his 100th cap against Belarus tonight, having hit all the high notes on the pitch.
Bale helped inspire Wales to two Euros finals and is their all-time record scorer on 36 goals.
But the 32-year-old is out of tune compared to famous Welsh singers Tom Jones, Charlotte Church and Katherine Jenkins.
So much so that he was booed off during his singing initiation following his debut against Trinidad and Tobago.
Ex-Wales team-mate Joe Ledley said: “He’s great at football, golf, table tennis, he’s even got a long throw as well.
“Singing is the only thing he hasn’t got. He’s got everything else bar a voice.”
Fellow Dragons pal Robert Earnshaw added: “I can’t remember what he sang but I know he was average and we were booing him afterwards.
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“Very bad singing voice but amazing at football.”
Bale, who at the time was Wales’ youngest player aged 16 years and 315 days — let his feet do the talking and set up Earnshaw for a winner in the 2-1 friendly triumph over the Caribbean side 15 years ago.
Earnshaw, who scored both goals in Austria, said: “He’s a special player and talent that comes along once in every generation.
“I remember his first cap and assist for Wales was to me.
“I’d never heard of him but somebody said he was a 16-year-old kid at Southampton.
“After a few touches in training. I was like, ‘Wow, this kid has got a bit’.
Gareth Bale will go down as the greatest Welsh player of all time
Joe Ledley
“He had great enthusiasm, good left foot, energy and ability.
“He came on in the second half and went on one of his runs down the left, he dribbled past a couple of players and pulled the ball back to me.
“I scored and that’s when he introduced himself to the international stage. It was amazing.
“We are reaching 100 caps but he’s still doing the same thing. He’s one of the best Welsh players we’ve ever seen.”
Ledley, a close pal of Bale during Wales’ run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals, added: “It will be one of the proudest moments of his career. He’s a nice guy.
“Look at the stats and number of goals he has scored for Wales. He will go down as the greatest Welsh player of all time.”
- Robert Earnshaw and Joe Ledley are supporting McDonald’s Fun Football. Free football sessions for 5 to 11- year-olds are available nationwide. Visit mcdonalds.co.uk/football to sign up and play.