11 facts you didn't know about Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale’s stock has been on the rise ever since he made his debut for Southampton as a left-back, with a reputation for taking fierce free-kicks. His subsequent move to Tottenham, and transformation from a much-maligned player to one of the world’s best wingers, that saw him become the most expensive transfer ever at the time, has been very well documented.
At the Santiago Bernabeu, he went from strength to strength, helping the Los Blancos to two Champions League titles in three years. While a player of his calibre makes headlines more often than not, there are quite a few facts about the Welsh wizard that have flown under the radar.
Also read: Five reasons why Gareth Bale can never replace Cristiano Ronaldo
Here are 11 facts about the Welshman that you probably did not know.
#11 His Tottenham Hotspur jinx
While Bale went on to be a tremendous player for Tottenham, it’s fair to say that his beginnings at the club were humble, to say the least.
It took the winger an incredible 25 league games to end up on the winning side with Tottenham; a run of games that extended for two years, three managers and 1,533 minutes of football.
The unfortunate jinx was finally broken when he came on as an 84th-minute substitute against Burnley in September 2009 with Spurs already 4-0 up. They ended up winning the game 5-0 and Bale could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Needless to say, when his career at Spurs did come to an end after the 2012/13 season, not many could accuse the Welshman of being a ‘bad luck charm.’ Quite the contrary as the Welshman was arguably the sole reason the north-London club even managed to push the top-4 race so close that year.