Gareth Bale has revealed his Real Madrid teammates used to poke fun at him for Wales’ lack of international success. “I’ve taken a lot of stick…”
Bale’s Wales have reached the last four of Euro 2016, with the Portugal of Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe standing in their way, and Toni Kroos’ Germany potentially waiting in the final if they can get past France.
“I’ve taken a lot of stick in the last few years, so it’s good now to be part of a major tournament and to do great things with the national team. It’s great to be a part of this,” Bale told AS, before revealing the kind of abuse he would receive from his teammates.
“When they saw that we had lost or we were beyond 100th place in the FIFA rankings, and they used to tell me I would have nine weeks’ holiday instead of two. The usual. I remember Kroos joking that we would only play three games. It’d be nice to meet him in the final!
“It’s a good laugh. We’ve obviously exceeded peoples’ expectations. We know that and we’re enjoying it.”
