Gareth Bale: Wales boss Robert Page hopes star 'still has part to play'
- Published
Gareth Bale phoned Wales boss Robert Page on Sunday to explain his decision to retire from football at the age of 33
Wales manager Robert Page says he hopes Gareth Bale "still has a part to play" for the national side after retirement.
Bale, 33, shocked the football world by announcing his retirement after a glittering playing career.
Page says he wants to see Bale - who is the Wales men's teams leading scorer and appearance-maker - remain involved with the international set-up.
"I would love for Gareth to still be involved in some capacity," Page said. "We had that conversation."
Bale scored 41 goals in 111 Wales games, including his country's only goal at the 2022 World Cup - their first appearance at the tournament in 64 years.
Page is hopeful Bale will remain a presence in the Wales camp, even if it is not as a talismanic player.
"What that role is we don't know yet, but he just needs some time to spend with his family," Page told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.
"I won't go into detail and to what level, but that's as far as we've got with it.
"It's a big adjustment for him, going into a normal life, but we'll have another conversation with him in a few weeks and we'll make a plan moving forward, but he has so much to offer.
"Even just his presence in the changing room, just his presence in the hotel environment, is something that I would be really keen on keeping him involved."
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Page expects the Football Association of Wales (FAW) to be equally keen on keeping Bale around.
"I'm keen to keep him involved in some capacity - it's working out what role that is - and I'm sure the FAW would also be keen," he said.
"He's got a great opinion on football and that's why I've involved him in so many conversations, along with many other senior players, and he's still got a lot to offer."
Page confirmed he would have selected Bale for Wales' European Championship qualifiers in March but believes the former Real Madrid star has retired at the right time.
"Gareth messaged to say he needed a conversation. I knew it was something significant, but when he announced it to me it didn't come as a complete surprise," he said.
"I told him I think it's the right time to bow out. You've just scored in a World Cup and got everything on your CV, what you've done for this country is unbelievable."
Bale won trophies galore in a glittering club career with Real Madrid, but it was with Wales where he produced some of his best individual displays.
Bale inspired Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 and former Wales boss Chris Coleman - who led the side at the tournament in France - said the whole country should celebrate his achievements.
"I think of course we're going to be disappointed, but we must never forget what he has given to his country," Coleman told BBC Radio Wales.
"We've got to celebrate him. We've got to celebrate what he's achieved with Wales, where he's helped to put Wales, he's had a large input on the last eight to 10 years of success."
Coleman feels Bale is retiring because he cannot quite reach the standards that saw him become the world's most expensive player and win five Champions Leagues.
"I was disappointed but I kind of saw it coming if I'm honest and it happens to all players," Coleman said.
"They can't keep producing, the years tick by and your body changes and I think we saw that with Gaz in the World Cup, where maybe he couldn't do what he was doing before. That probably disappoints him because I know the type of guy he is."
Watch Gareth Bale's best Premier League moments as he retires from football aged 33
Ashley Williams, Wales' captain at Euro 2016, believes Bale will be remembered as one of the greatest players of his generation.
"He's been one of the best entertainers that I can think of in recent times," Williams told BBC Radio Wales.
"It was always edge of your seat because you were always expecting him to do something spectacular. In my opinion he's the best British player we've ever seen.
"There was a time when he was arguably the best in the world or one of the best three and in the conversation with [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo.
"You think about those Champions League finals - he was doing it at the very highest level.
"I think he's given more than enough for all the teams that he's played for, especially Wales.
"He's brought joy to so many people over the years and so many amazing moments that he deserves it (retirement) now."
The view from Spain
Tributes to Bale have been a little less enthusiastic in Spain, where he does perhaps not get the credit he deserves for the success he had with Real Madrid.
An article in Spain's biggest selling newspaper Marca sums up the feeling of many in Madrid towards Bale.
"With Bale's retirement football loses a player with spectacular physical conditions. His speed, power and left foot strike are out of the ordinary," writes columnist Jose Luis Hurtado.
"But his image is overshadowed by his eternal fitness inconsistencies, his vulnerability to injuries and his attitude in the final stretch of his career, when it seemed he was more preoccupied with birdies than goals."
Elsewhere in the Spanish media, broadsheet El Pais claims Bale's physical problems were caused by playing too much golf.
"The doctors said that his muscles, especially his calves, would tear because they were stressed after years of daily treks around the golf courses of Madrid," writes journalist Diego Torres. "Golf was his true passion. Football had claustrophobic connotations for him."
However, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola paid tribute to Bale.
"What a player. [He's had a] fantastic career, won a lot of things. He represented Wales with more than 100 caps. Now he will become a fantastic golf player," he said.
'He will become a fantastic golf player' - Guardiola on Bale