by Jamil Bin-Salih
WHENEVER conversation arises discussing who the greatest ever player to don the Welsh jersey is, there are often many shouts for the likes of Ian Rush or Ryan Giggs to collect the accolade, but for me, it is a straight shoot-out between Gareth Bale and the late John Charles as to who is crowned Wales’ greatest.
At the tender age of just 28, Bale still has plenty of time to continue his great work with the national team. He currently boasts a record of 29 goals in 70 games, making him Wales’ all-time leading goal scorer.
And, with the Euro 2020 qualifiers soon kicking into gear, Bale can carry on the great successes that he has been instrumental in over the past 4 years or so, none more so than The Dragons’ European Championship exploits back in 2016. The Real Madrid star scored in 3 of the 6 games and was a real catalyst in Chris Coleman’s team which reached the semi-finals.
However, when we look at the great servants in Welsh footballing history, it is hard to look past the name of John Charles, who, like Bale, is one of the great British foreign exports.
Charles was a real spearhead in the iconic Welsh World Cup side of 1958. To this day, this remains the only time Wales have qualified for the World Cup, and but for an unfortunate injury that Charles sustained in a play-off game, came very close to glory as they eventually were knocked out by Pelé’s Brazil, winners of the tournament.
After the defeat to the Samba Boys, his then-manager Jimmy Murphy, detailed the sheer belief that the squad had in Charles at the time as he famously went on to say “with John Charles in the side we might have won”.
Charles eventually made 38 appearances for Wales, scoring an impressive 15 goals along the way as he was an extremely versatile player who had the ability to play in almost any position on the field, whether that be centre back or centre forward.
Like Bale, Charles made a big-money switch to a European giant, in this instance it was Juventus who saw potential in the Welshman and it was ultimately a revelation for The Old Lady as he went on to score 108 goals in 155 games during his five-year stay, whereby he won the Serie A three times, two Italian Cups and even placed third in the 1959 Ballon d’or.
Bale has also enjoyed immense success with his Real Madrid side, securing a La Liga title along with three Champions League triumphs with the Galacticos, scoring 63 times in just 119 appearances in the process.
These two Welshmen both hold majorly impressive, but similar, records for club and country and will go down in Welsh and British footballing history for their exploits.
However, with so much left to give and so much time in his career to do it in, Gareth Bale certainly has time on his side to continue to cement his legacy as the greatest Welsh footballer ever.
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