Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:38 am
Clayton Blackmore believes Wales can reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup providing that Gareth Bale is in top form.
Rob Page's side will battle it out with the United States of America, Iran and England for a top two spot in the group stages.
Should they progress to the knockout phase of the tournament, they would come up against either Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador or Qatar in the last-16, and former Wales star Blackmore - who won 39 caps for his country - is confident that an on song Bale could prove the difference in the competition.
“I think they’ll get to the quarter-finals," he told BETDAQ. "The first two games are really important against USA and Iran, they’ve got to get something out of both of them.
"I think they’ll get through the group stage and turn somebody over, but then they’ll come up against somebody really big, and it might be a bridge too far. But it wouldn’t surprise me if they got to the semi-final, because we’ve got the talent in the team, with both the young lads and the senior lads.
“But Bale needs to be in form, and he will be in form. He’s very experienced now – he put the ball in for the own goal against Ukraine to help us get through to the finals. He just needs to be fit so he’s on the pitch, then he can produce something special at any time. You need players like that in your team.
“He’s got plenty of young lads who can run for fun around him, so you don’t need him to be able to run. As long as he’s fit and on the pitch, he can do something at any time. You could even have him on the bench and bring him on when it’s 0-0 against tired teams.”