Gareth Bale a 'genuine team player', says Wales boss Chris Coleman
Tuesday 5 July 2016 23:46, UK
Chris Coleman says Gareth Bale's willingness to be a team player has been a critical component of Wales' success at Euro 2016.
The Real Madrid star completed the Welsh squad's final training session prior to their semi-final against Portugal after having been given an extra day of rest following the 3-1 victory over Belgium in the previous round.
The final-four showdown in Lyon has been billed as a clash between two Galacticos, with Bale going head-to-head with his Bernabeu team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, the two most expensive players of all time.
But Coleman says Bale's down-to-earth qualities are what has helped make him - and Wales - the tournament's big success story.
"You are either a team player or you are not," Wales boss Coleman told Sky Sports News HQ.
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"Being comfortable in a team environment, being happy to work to a certain type of ethic, being with a bunch of people that enjoy being together, enjoy working hard and enjoy putting themselves out there - knowing that they are not guaranteed anything, even if they do give their best - but they just want to do it because they are doing it for their country - you can't pretend at that, you are either like that or you are not.
"Obviously, Bale-o is exactly like that, just like the rest of the lads. We had a whole campaign to get through where they were all exactly the same."
Coleman, however, does see many similarities between Bale and Ronaldo, two players he is happy to describe as "great individuals".
The Wales manager says in both cases their talent is exacerbated to elite level by their willingness to improve and work hard.
"If you talk to [Ryan] Giggs, or hear Sir Alex [Ferguson] speak about him [Ronaldo], it's about his desire to get better," he said.
"You see that on the pitch, how motivated he is to score and to win but I think since he was young at Manchester United he had that desire to work hard, get better and win.
"Talent is not enough, you need mentality and attitude to go with it, just like Bale has.
"I remember him at United when I was at Fulham - he scored in the last minute in one game to win, he produced something out of ordinary. You need great individuals - they've got one and we've got one."
