Gareth Bale Left Frustrated by Late Asmir Begovic Heroics in Wales Draw

The fairytale ending very nearly happened—and but for a fantastic save from the Bosnia-Herzegovina goalkeeper Asmir Begovic it would have done—but in the end Gareth Bale and Wales had to settle for a point from their latest Euro 2016 qualifier; a goalless draw at the Cardiff City Stadium.

For Bale, it was the first international match since his one-man rescue mission revived his nation’s qualification hopes whilst they were in danger of being stillborn on an horrendous pitch in Andorra, where his two goals chiselled out a 2-1 win.

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But here Wales were shorn of the two players who come closest to, but are still some way off, Bale’s level of club status—Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey and Liverpool’s Joe Allen—so the main man was under even more pressure against a nation which qualified for the World Cup. He responded, but it wasn’t quite enough for the three points.

Bosnia have good players—the goalkeeper Begovic of Stoke, Roma’s stylish Miralem Pjanic and Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, the apple of his nation’s eye and their captain—but like Ramsey and Allen they fail in comparison to Bale. All but the very best players in the world do.

But, as proved here, Wales can still scrap and fight with these best of the rest.

With Bale stationed up the field in support of first Charlton’s Simon Church—who has played just three times for the Championship side this season—and then Reading’s Hal Robson-Kanu, this wasn’t exactly the Bernabeu and Cristiano Ronaldo. You could have imagined one cross that Bale put in being nodded in by the spring-heeled Portuguese, but not, as it turned out, the struggling Church.

But Bale can’t do it all on his own.

When Bosnia attacked and revved up the pressure at the tail end of the first half and then a tense, somewhat error-strewn 10 or 15 minutes in the second, goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey—the reserve to Julian Speroni at Crystal Palace—had to be at his best to keep out Pjanic and Dzeko, with Hull City’s James Chester and Swansea’s Ashley Williams proving two effective barriers at the back.

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Wales’s strong defence allowed them to build confidence throughout the match, so much so that by the end of it it was they who looked the most likely to score.

Bale’s free-kick was headed over by the unmarked Williams when he really should have done better, whilst a corner from the Real Madrid man was diverted wide by Robson-Kanu when he stood underneath the crossbar.

In between those two moments came the aforementioned attempt at the fairytale.

Bale chased a long ball down field for the umpteenth time all night, and whilst 99.9% of footballers in his country’s history would have waited for reinforcements, in an instant Bale looked up an arrowed a shot towards the bottom corner. It was going in off the post but Begovic brilliantly saved, earning his nation a first point in the qualification phase and denying Wales the opportunity to go six clear of them at the same time.

"

Bale'dan harika vuruş, Begovic'den bir o kadar güzel kurtarış. https://t.co/LjXD1GstrF

— De Marke (@demarkesports) October 10, 2014"

On such fine margins are campaigns decided, but there was enough here to encourage Wales as they bid to reach their first major finals since an appearance at the World Cup in 1958.

Cyprus await back in Cardiff on Monday, and if the Welsh defence can remain strong again then they’ll have every chance of moving onto seven points from three games.

And with Bale around, anything’s possible from there.