We’re just a few hours away now from USA vs Wales, the very first match that the USMNT will play since the covid-19 pandemic began. In terms of the foremost individual player to watch in this not extremely meaningful international friendly, it’s Welsh winger Gareth Bale.
The Tottenham Hotspur star, who broke the world transfer fee record when he moved to Real Madrid in 2013, is back at Spurs on loan. He got a late start to this season, due to injury concerns, but he’s fully fit now. There was controversy surrounding his inclusion in Welsh camp this international break.
Where there’s controversy in international football, you can often find Jose Mourinho and he hit out at the idea of Bale being looked after by one of the Wales assistants, who also happens to work for Spurs’ north London rivals Arsenal.
Wales Head Coach Ryan Giggs will miss this one due to allegations of assault. Doing the media opportunity for this one instead was Rob Page, who responded with the following when asked if Gareth Bale will play.
“It’s still something we’re considering, because we’ve now got a fully fit Gareth Bale. I’ve had a conversation with him and he’s raring to go. He is fighting fit. Selection is yet to be decided, but we will have one eye on these qualifiers because they’re very important.”
“I think it’s the first time he’s been at a club where he seems to be enjoying his football and his training even more so. He looks fit and feels fit. It’s good to have a fully fit Gareth Bale in the squad.”
In other words, expect to see him, but only in a cameo, or maybe a limited amount of minutes. Wales will play a lot of kids here, as will the U.S.
Unfortunately, the face of the Stars and Stripes, Christian Pulisic, wasn’t able to go, as he’s not fully recovered from his hamstring injury. He has since left the USMNT camp and returned to Chelsea.
USA at Wales FYIs
Thursday Nov 12, kickoff, 2:45pm ET
TV: Fox Sports 1, Unimas and TUDN
Wales (+135) USA (+215) Draw (+210)
You’ll get to see some members of the Yanks new golden generation feature in this one, but not all, and it won’t be until next spring, at earliest that we see all of them playing together.
USMNT Golden Generation Profile Series
Christian Pulisic Gio Reyna Sergino Dest Weston McKennie Zack Steffen Tyler Adams
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.