Editions
Los 40 USA
Scores
Follow us on
Hello

EURO 2016

Bale bullish ahead of Cristiano meeting after 'incredible' win

Speaking after Wales booked a historic place in the Euro 2016 semi-finals, the Real Madrid man said: "We believe in ourselves."

Bale bullish ahead of Cristiano meeting after 'incredible' win
Stu Forster

Wales star Gareth Bale spoke of his delight at reaching a first ever major tournament semi-final after Chris Coleman's men saw off Belgium in the Euro 2016 last eight on Friday night.

Radja Nainggolan gave the Belgians an early lead with a spectacular strike, but goals from Ashley Williams, Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes led the Red Dragons to victory in Lille.

Bale and Cristiano to come face to face

Wales go on to face Portugal on Wednesday for a place in the finala match-up that will see Bale come up against Real Madrid club-mate Cristiano Ronaldo.

And Bale said: "We fought as hard as anyone. We covered every blade of grass. I think we deserve to be in the semi-finals. We believe in ourselves. We know what we're doing.

Bale (left) celebrates Wales' quarter-final win over Belgium.
Full screen
Bale (left) celebrates Wales' quarter-final win over Belgium.FERNANDO ZUERASDIARIO AS

"It means everything"

"It feels incredible," he continued. "We fully believed we could get this far. We said we'd give it a good go. We're enjoying the journey.

"It means everything. Our fans were ten times as loud despite there being much more Belgians in the crowd."

"We'll go into the semis with confidence"

Looking ahead to Wales' meeting with the Portuguese in Lyon, Bale declared: "We'll go into the semi-final with confidence. We'll do our homework and work on our game plan.

"It's not long before the next game. I'm sure there'll be a few celebrations but not too much."