Bale has suffered a hamstring injury in the countdown to the Euro 2012 qualifier at the Millennium Stadium.
The Football Association of Wales confirmed the midfielder would take no part in the match after experiencing tightness in the muscle and, following a scan on Wednesday, Bale has returned to Tottenham for further assessment.
But Wales have been at pains to stress that the injury was sustained following Tottenham’s goal-less draw against West Ham last Saturday, he has not trained with the national team this week and they have not been left with enough time to repair the damage before the crunch match against England.
Assistant manager Raymond Verheijen delivered a thinly veiled dig at Tottenham earlier by claiming on Twitter that the “incompetent amateurs struck again”.
Goal.com UK understands that Wales were surprised Bale played the full 90 minutes against West Ham at the weekend after they had been told he was only fit enough to play for an hour.
It was Bale’s first start for two months following two tentative substitute appearances against Wolves and Milan after his return from a back injury.
The FAW statement read: “Due to a hamstring problem, Gareth Bale has had to withdraw from the Wales squad to face England on Saturday.
“He felt tight last week during training with his club. After playing 90 minutes on Saturday he felt some muscle tightness. Initially, this was expected to be muscle soreness after playing his first game.
“On joining up with the Welsh squad he was kept off his feet in training for two days to recover. As he still felt tight in the warm-up on Tuesday, Gareth was pulled out of the session.
“He did not train at all on Wednesday and was sent for a scan. The scan revealed that Gareth Bale picked up his injury last week.”
Verheijen conceded soon after the statement was released that Wales recognised they had run out of time to get their key player fit for the England match.
“It’s impossible to repair the damage this week in time before the game,” said Gary Speed’s No.2. “Let’s move on now with our preparations for the England game. Thankfully, football is a team sport and not an individual sport.”
Bale’s withdrawal is a boost to England’s hopes of getting a win on Saturday. Manager Fabio Capello has mentioned the Welshman in the same breath as Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s former Manchester United favourite Cristiano Ronaldo.
Original post:
Gareth Bale Ruled Out Of Wales’ Euro 2012 Qualifier Against England