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Bale strike deserves Page in history books
Wales manager Rob Page hailed Gareth Bale’s stunning free-kick against Austria as the best he has ever seen.
The Dragons’ talisman struck the delightful opener from 20-yards out before adding another after half-time to inspire his country to a 2-1 win in their crucial World Cup play-off semi-final at the Cardiff City Stadium.
It means Wales can now secure a place at Qatar 2022 by beating either Scotland or Ukraine later in the year, in what would be their first World Cup qualification since 1958.
After the game, Page told Sky Sports: “I don’t think it’s sunk in properly yet. What a game, what a night, what an occasion.
“The star man turns up — I have just said to him that’s the best free-kick I have ever seen in my life.
“Two great goals, a deflected goal against makes it an anxious last half hour. But to a man I thought they were outstanding. We had to dig deep at the end.
“They thoroughly deserve all the plaudits they are going to get, those players. They are an unbelievable group of men.
“He (Gareth Bale) hasn’t played many minutes but at least he has been training day in, day out. Did we anticipate he would play 90 minutes? Probably not. We knew we would get an outstanding hour out of him.
“In the end he cramps up and we take him off.
“We are a cup final away now, that’s it. We prepared like any other game and it was all about Austria. They are a very good team. We are one win away from the World Cup.”
World Cup absence crushes Italy
Italy manager Roberto Mancini has described his team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup as his “biggest disappointment”.
The European champions were stunned by North Macedonia in their play-off semi-final last night, losing 1-0 to miss out on a second straight global showpiece having been absent in 2018 too.
Aleksandar Trajkovski fired a long-range, stoppage-time winner to take the visitors within a game of their first ever World Cup, sparking scenes of jubilation — and Italian devastation.
The Azzurri have been sent crashing back down to earth having won Euro 2020 last summer when beating England in the final.
Mancini said: “This summer I had my greatest joy and today is the biggest disappointment. It’s hard to speak.
“I’m really sorry for the players. It’s a team that has played very well and who won the Euros last summer by deserving it. I’m really sorry that they can’t go to the World Cup for the second time.
“That’s football. When you lose, you have to suffer and remain silent, there is nothing to do.”
