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Come Fan with UsFriday, June 26, 2026

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale square off in the Euro 2016 semifinals, as Portugal takes on Wales.

  • Evan Davis

    Wales proved they’re more than Bale

    Wales v Belgium - Quarter Final: UEFA Euro 2016
    Wales v Belgium - Quarter Final: UEFA Euro 2016
    Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

    Wales just beat a favorite, 3-1, to get to the Euro semifinals, and they did it without a Gareth Bale goal. Belgium has elite players, but they had no answers for Chris Coleman’s side. The fact of the matter is that Wales is a complete team, and they could go all the way to the final.

    You wouldn’t be wrong to think that Wales was a minnow being carried by a global superstar. From the outside looking in, it would appear that Wales was all about Bale’s brilliance and 10 other guys trying to hold it together. Bale has either scored or assisted in 13 of Wales’s 21 goals in qualifying and in the final tournament. When you’re the world’s most expensive player playing for the world’s richest team, you naturally hold the spotlight.

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