Boss hails Spurs winger as Welsh wizard like Man United hero

Wednesday, August 15, 2012
8:28 AM

Chris Coleman has compared Gareth Bale to Ryan Giggs

Tottenham’s Gareth Bale has been praised by Wales manager Chris Coleman who hopes the winger can push his country to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The Spurs star is in the squad for tonight’s friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Llanelli - their final warm-up before qualification begins next month.

Wales have not reached the World Cup finals since 1958 but the 23-year-old has been backed as a player that can finally end that long barren run.

He has had a difficult summer with back and hamstring problems ruling him out of Olympic contention, while his recovery to play for Spurs while the Games were ongoing led to widespread criticism of the former Southampton man.

But Coleman is well aware of just how vital Bale is to his side, and compared his influence to that of Ryan Giggs during his own playing days.

“He is a magnificent player, you don’t see players have their breath taken away very often but in training he did two or three things that were unbelievable.

“Giggs had that, when we came away with Wales he had so much ability that we would just start laughing because he would do something ridiculous, on another level.

“It is the same with Gareth, you know you are in the presence of something special.

“You look at how he is built, he is 6ft 1in, he is a racehorse, but he has amazing ability as well and he is a special player, a great player.”