'Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order' Mijatovic not entirely to blame

"Gareth Bale celebrated with a flag that read 'Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order'." "Los Blancos unhappy with Bale antics." "Bale pokes fun at critics." "Welshman to receive hostile reception at the Bernabéu." "Real Madrid teammates laugh off flag dancing."

Numerous headlines have followed in the wake of El Larguero's interview with Pedja Mijatovic in late October and the subsequent flag that was designed and displayed by Welsh fans during the latest international break. In several of the more recent news reports that have surfaced, though, the name of the former Montenegrin and Real Madrid player is sometimes left out, as the ownership of the quote moves seemlessly on to the supporters of the Red Dragons.

Bale's 'in that order' origins

But as we at AS Towers reflected on the story, and perused the original interview, we realised that Mijatovic may not be entirely to blame for the phrase. And we might have made a wee mistake.

Our original translation of that interview segment was as follows:

"...But to have someone like that at the club, who they say isn't integrated and has other, more important worries than his own team and his club... the first thing he thinks about is Wales, then golf and after that, Real Madrid. I haven't spoken to him but that's how he comes across..."

Mijatovic had already made it clear earlier in the talk that he didn't know Bale personally and that he was just piecing together various comments that he'd heard. So yes, it was his opinion, right or wrong, and it's one that the Welshman has not yet refuted. But what about the 'IN THAT ORDER' line that was used on the now-famous flag, and in many copies, retorts and memes that have been devised since the furore began? We trace that back to a simple, mainly innocent, tweet.

As you'll see in the AS English tweet that accompanied the translated interview on 29 October, we added 'in that order' to add some emphasis to the opinion of Mijatovic. Those three words should, however, have fallen outside the quote marks.

Needlesstosay, the six words were, understandably, bundled together and went off to live a life of their own. We promise to be more careful...