Football
ESPN staff 8y

Gareth Bale fit for Wales, says team are ready for final Euro 2016 qualifiers

Wales are "ready" ahead of Saturday's European Championship Group B qualifier away to Bosnia-Herzegovina which could see them end their 58-year absence from a major tournament, Gareth Bale said as he declared himself fit to play.

Real Madrid forward Bale has been battling a calf injury he sustained on Sept. 15, but he came on for 20 minutes during Sunday's 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid and insists he is fully fit.

Wales need just one more point to secure a place in the Euro 2016 finals in France, a bid that would represent the country's first finals appearance in a major tournament since the 1958 World Cup.

"I have prepared well for the last couple of weeks with my rehab. We are all on board, ready to go," Bale told the BBC. "The calf is okay. It was a nice 20 minutes [against Atletico] to open it up and get the legs going ready for the next two games."

Bale was named Welsh player of the year for the fifth time in his career on Monday.

The Real Madrid striker won the award after being involved in eight of Wales' nine goals in their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign -- six goals and two assists.

Wales have yet to lose so far during their Euro 2016 qualifying bid. If they lose to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chris Coleman's team will have one more opportunity to earn their final qualifying point on Oct. 13.

"We have been working hard for many years to be in this position," Bale added. "We have all been playing with each other for six to eight years. The manager has come in and been amazing."

Coleman suggested that some of Europe's traditional powers were "scared" to face Wales, as the country had requests for November friendlies turned down by

"We thought that we might be able to tempt a Spain or a Germany and find out how good we are, but there's been no interest," Coleman said. "We were turned down by one or two and Italy didn't want to play us."

^ Back to Top ^