Bale vows to continue playing for Wales

Captain Gareth Bale said he will continue to play for Wales “as long as they want me” after defeat to England sealed their World Cup exit.

Bale, 33, says he will return to international duty when Robert Page’s side begin qualification for Euro 2024 in March.

“I will continue as long as I can and as long as they want me,” he said.

“It’s a difficult time now, obviously, but here we go again. We have a qualifying campaign starting in March.

“We have a few months to get away from international football which is disappointing, we wish we had stayed [at the World Cup] more time, but we’re back in March.”

There had previously been speculation that former Real Madrid and Tottenham forward Bale would retire after this World Cup, Wales’ first since 1958.

Page’s side leave Qatar having picked up just one point from three group games and feeling that the tournament has not been done justice.

Bale, the country’s most decorated male player, is one of the club’s many leading figures wales team, but rejected the suggestion that the end of this World Cup campaign could lead to a transition period for Page’s team.

“Just because we’ve had a difficult tournament, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of an era,” Bale said.

“We’re looking forward to March. We’re looking forward to the playoffs.

“This group sticks together. We have great team spirit and we’ll be back as always.”

Bale was replaced by Brennan Johnson at half-time against England. He said afterwards that he had felt a strain in his hamstring before the pitch, which got worse during the game, and that it would have been “selfish” to hold on because he couldn’t sprint.

After recovering from a poor first-half performance to draw their first World Cup against the United States, thanks to Bale’s late penalty, Wales were deservedly beaten by Iran before England secured the which was ultimately a comfortable victory.

“We are bitterly disappointed. We would have liked to have played better. We would have liked to have had a great tournament,” added Bale.

“But football is difficult and I think we also have to realize that we have come a long way in qualifying for this World Cup.

“We’re all disappointed, but the one thing we can all keep our heads up [about] it’s that we gave everything on the pitch.

“Although the performances and results may not have been there, we all worked our socks off, we all stuck together, our fans were amazing as always and we’re all proud of where we’ve come.

“We have to take those experiences and use them wisely and learn from the mistakes we made and yes, hopefully we can start again in March to qualify for the Euros.”

Page said Wales should not be disappointed despite failing to reach the knockout stages for the first time in their four major appearances at the tournament.

“I thought the first half we were excellent – the effort they put in without the ball was outstanding,” he said.

“We thought at half-time that we could have been a bit better with the ball again, but I won’t say a bad word about this group of players. They gave it their all today.

“My message is don’t be disappointed. We have to rebuild the future now. To have reached the World Cup is an incredible achievement for this group of players.”

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