Picture Credit: Twitter
When it comes to drama and action in football, Gareth Bale is one of those players who always finds himself in the headlines. After a couple of tough years, the 32-year-old has finally kicked off his 2021-22 campaign on a positive note. He scored for Real Madrid during a thrilling 3-3 draw against Levante just a few days back and looked in good form.
It was now time for him to step up for his national side as Wales were up against Belarus in a crucial game at FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers. Gareth Bale led from the front as he opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 5th minute. However, things turned upside down for his side when Belarus scored two back-to-back goals through Vitali Lisakovich and Pavel Sadko in 29th and 30th minutes respectively.
The pressure was back on Wales as they tried to pave their way back into the match. Eventually, they were awarded another spot kick in the second half and Bale stepped up once again and dispatched the ball into the net to make it 2-2.
Bale wins the match for Wales with a brilliant injury-time goal
It looked like the match was going towards a draw which would not have been a great result for Wales. Gareth Bale's side were continuing to push for a winner as the match went into 4 minutes of extra time. Just a minute before the scheduled end of contest, Mark Harris got a chance to score the winner but he was denied by Wales' keeper before the defender cleared off his effort on the line.
The ball then went back into the feet of Harris as he passed it to Daniel James, who also could not find space to shoot the ball towards the target. He decided to put the ball back into the box as the ball landed in path of Gareth Bale. The Wales skipper realized that he did not have much time to sort his feet as he struck the ball with his left-foot and the ball went past the keeper in the bottom corner.
Watch Bale's goal here:
The players erupted with joy as Bale had completed his hattrick and more importantly had sealed a crucial 3-2 win for Wales over Belarus. The victory put Wales in third position in Group E, just a point behind second-placed Czech Republic with a game in hand.