Bale finally played 90 minutes after eight months!
Wales beat Bulgaria 1-0 and Gareth Bale did something he is no longer used to. The Real Madrid man played the whole game, something he has only done once in 2020.
90 minutes plus added time Bale played for Wales against Bulgaria. The Real Madrid man played the whole game, although without major contributions. His country beat Bulgaria with a last minute goal.
The '11' hardly plays the full game nowadays. It was just the second time he has played the full 90 minutes in 2020.
The other time was eight months ago in the La Liga match away to Getafe. He played the whole match in a 0-3 win for Real Madrid.
Since then, he has played 84 minutes versus Celta and 71 against Osasuna and Mallorca in La Liga, but never 90.
Against Finland, Giggs, the Wales boss, agreed with him that he would play just the first half. Against Bulgaria, it seemed like he would play 60 minutes, but given the scoreline, he stayed on until the end.
How did Bale play?
The man who is overlooked by Zinedine Zidane hardly did anything of note in the first 45 minutes. After the interval, he did a bit more.
In total, Bale had four shots in a game which had a very slow tempo. At the back end of the game, just before Neco Williams' goal, he had a good opportunity, but he sent the ball over the bar.