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FIFA World Cup 2022: 'I don’t understand why Gareth Bale was so far away from the box,' asks Robert Pires

Welsh star Gareth Bale made his 110th appearance for Wales, the most all-time for the national team. But the legend looked out of touch all through the match and was often spotted away from the box.

wales football team

Al Rayyan (Qatar), Nov 25: Pulling off yet another upset in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022, Iran defeated Wales 2-0 on Friday (November 25) and kept themselves alive in the showpiece event.

Rouzbeh Cheshmi scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time to break a scoreless stalemate and Iran went on to extend the lead to 2-0. The strike from Cheshmi from outside the box was just beyond the diving reach of Wales backup goalkeeper Danny Ward, who was pressed into duty when starter Wayne Hennessey was sent off in the 86th minute for a high challenge on Mehdi Taremi.

Moments later, Ramin Rezaeian added a second goal giving way to some wild celebrations in the Iranian camp while some of the Welsh players dropped in disbelief to the field.

Welsh star Gareth Bale made his 110th appearance for Wales, the most all-time for the national team. But the legend looked out of touch all through the match and was often spotted away from the box.

Speaking during the VISA Match Centre on Viacom18 Sports' FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 presentation, Sol Campbell and Robert Pires broke down how Iran stopped Bale in the game.

iran vs wales

Campbell commended the efforts of the Iranian players to close down Bale in the big clash and said, "I just think that Iran was just really good to manage him and not allow him too much to space operate in. Everyone was always on him, he didn't have any time to run at anyone, and none left him alone so he couldn't really shoot from outside the box. They made sure all the spaces were reduced around him because they know how dangerous he is and the Iranian players did a really good job."

On the other hand, Robert Pires was puzzled about Bale not being aggressive enough around the penalty area. "I think the Wales players were without energy which was strange. Normally, this guy (Gareth Bale), needs to be in the box area because he's a very good finisher, he can score goals. But I don't understand - he was very far away from the box," said Pires.

The Welsh appeared sluggish early after a 1-1 draw with the United States in their Group B opener.

Story first published: Friday, November 25, 2022, 20:25 [IST]
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