Gareth Bale Can Make History by Helping Wales Reach Euro 2016

Wales have not qualified for a major football finals since the 1958 FIFA World Cup and are not generally considered to be a side to worry about, but two factors have come together to boost their chances of reaching the European Championship finals in 2016.

With one of the world's top players in their midst, Gareth Bale, and the expansion of qualification allowing the top three teams in each group to have a chance of making the finals, Wales have made a good enough start to the current campaign to have a realistic aim of making France 2016.

The Real Madrid attacker has already stated that reaching the finals would equal winning the Champions League in his career achievements, per BBC Sport (h/t Reuters), and if it is to happen Wales need Bale to have a telling impact in the upcoming game against Cyprus.

Bale-ful Influence

Wales don't have a squad full of stars but do have a first-choice XI which should be able to compete with most teams in their group...when all are fit.

Stu Forster/Getty Images

Bale scored both goals in Wales' opening victory, a 2-1 win in Andorra, and almost scored a late winner in the second game, an important 0-0 draw at home against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Even though he was almost man-marked out of the occasion by Muhamed Besic in the latter game, Bale still showed he is capable of moments of magic to shift the momentum of a match and create chances for his team.

The former Spurs man is already in the top 10 all-time scorers for Wales with 14 goals to his name, and along with the likes of Ian Rush and Neville Southall he is regarded as one of the finest talents to play for the nation. Where Bale can succeed where those others failed is in leading the team to a major tournament—if consistency and luck play a part too.

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11 - Gareth Bale has scored 11 goals in his last 15 appearances for Wales. Fulcrum.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 10, 2014"

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Coleman says Gareth Bale can break Ian Rush's record for Wales goals. "He's young enough. He's going to play enough games to surpass that."

— BBC Wales Sport (@BBCWalesSport) October 9, 2014"

Midfield Dynamics

In some ways, the challenge Wales boss Chris Coleman faces with Bale is similar to that with Fernando Santos and Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal: How can he get the player close to goal, able to attack, shoot and score as often as possible, when other attackers around him are not at the same level?

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Also like Portugal, Wales have a decent number of options in central midfield—not on the same level, perhaps, nor with as much depth—but are currently missing their best two in the middle, Joe Allen and Aaron Ramsey. Those two, plus Joe Ledley, form a more-than-respectable platform to provide service to Bale...but outside of Bale himself in the front line, there is little goal threat for Wales.

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Fun fact: Gareth Bale scored ONLY 3 less goals than the rest of the Wales squad. [SkySportsHQ] pic.twitter.com/d4INrncmQZ

— BlancoStats (@BlancoStats) September 10, 2014"

Bale is the only squad member to have more than three international goals—the unfit Ramsey and Sam Vokes both still have single figures too—and clearly the left-footed wide man's athleticism, direct running and willingness to shoot from any angle mark him out not just as the team's biggest threat but also their most frequent outlet for team-mates to pass to when under pressure.

Stu Forster/Getty Images

One interesting tactical alteration that Coleman looked at was Carlo Ancelotti's recent switch for Real Madrid against Villarreal: Bale and Ronaldo were both deployed for part of the game as a front two. The rest of the team sat back in two blocks and simply looked to feed counter-attacks to those two at every opportunity.

In the absence of quality attackers to call upon, beefing up the midfield and using Bale as a free, central forward could be an option for Wales within games.

Welsh Hopes

Realistically, despite sitting top of Group B right now, Wales are not likely to end the qualification phase in that spot. Belgium are the big favourites, with Bosnia-Herzegovina the probable candidates for second—making Wales' draw against that rival all the more important.

That draw followed Bosnia's surprise defeat against Cyprus in the opening weekend, highlighting two important factors: the possibility that Wales could finish in the top three or even two if they find their own consistency and resilience; and that there are big dangers in the group outside of Belgium and Bosnia.

Israel would probably be considered the rivals for third place, but Wales play Cyprus on Monday night and cannot afford the same mistake Bosnia made by dropping points against that opposition. The squad is not deep enough, playing at a high enough level or filled with enough talent to overcome many episodes of dropped points in a 10-game campaign.

They do, though, have Gareth Bale, a player who can make the difference between a defeat and a draw or a draw and a victory in any given game.

If he can hit the net again versus Cyprus and leave his side with seven points from three games, Wales will start to view a top-three finish and thus a play-off spot for Euro 2016 as a possibility more than just a pipe dream.

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