Gareth Bale says pulling on the Wales jersey makes him feel “10 feet tall” and is a prime reason why he believes his nation is more patriotic than England.
Chris Coleman’s side take on Roy Hodgson’s in Lens on Thursday with Bale having previously claimed Wales have the greater passion. This annoyed England but Bale continued the theme when he was asked what it meant to wear the Wales shirt.
He said: “I feel 10 feet tall. That is maybe why I said my comment. I feel we are the most passionate country and it is not to disrespect, saying that any other country does not have pride and passion. They obviously do. But in my opinion we have the next level and the fans, players and nation show it.
“You grow up as a youngster watching the rugby and football. Whatever it is. Everything about Wales is about the pride and passion to represent the country and when we put on the shirt there is no bigger honour for us. You can see when we sang the national anthem [before beating Slovakia on Saturday] it was absolutely ridiculous. Everyone was gripping each other in the line. There were goosebumps and everyone was crying on the pitch after. That is just Wales. We play for the shirt and dragon. We give everything we’ve got.”
Bale also dismissed the notion that Wales are a one-man team, with all their hopes resting on him. “I don’t take too much notice of it,” said the 26-year-old. “People write about it all the time. We have the same with Portugal [Cristiano Ronaldo] and Sweden [Zlatan Ibrahimovic]. We know deep down that the team is the most important thing. I can’t score goals without someone passing me the ball. So if we don’t keep a clean sheet we don’t win. If we don’t score we don’t win. Everything revolves around the team not just one player.”
Bale won his second Champions League title last month when Real Madrid beat Atlético Madrid to follow the 2014 triumph over the same opposition. The forward is using his experience of high-pressure matches to calm some of his team-mates before facing England.
“I’ve got experience in big games and pressure situations so I’ve obviously spoken to one or two of the boys and a few have come up to me as well,” he said. “I’ve just given them a bit of advice – how to help them not be so nervous and try to ease the pressure and try to enjoy it. For me I feel if you enjoy your football you play a lot better. Everyone is different. For me I try to take the pressure out of it and think of it as another game.
You’re playing football and you’re trying to enjoy it with your friends. I am playing with my friends and you want to enjoy the occasion because you don’t want to look back on your career thinking I could have done this or that.
“You want to look back with no regrets and give it everything you’ve got – not thinking if I’d done this or could I have done that. Just playing your best.”
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