Gareth Bale is out to set the record straight. He’s heard all the rumors that he and Cristiano Ronaldo don’t get along. He’s even seen the efforts of his agent to disabuse fans of the notion that the Bale-Ronaldo partnership is anything but jolly twisted into evidence of the exact opposite by a conniving, unscrupulous media. Now he’s come to the fore himself to clear the air once and for all. “We get on really well,” Bale says at one point during a new interview with The Times. And we’re totally buying it.
ESPN FC has the relevant excerpts of The Times’ interview. We’ll jump right in, with Bale’s broad explanation of the relationship:
“He speaks English, which helped me when I first came here,” he said. “We also have that link from the Premier League. We get on really well. The press make a lot of things that maybe we don’t but we get on fine.”
See, they get on really well! Or maybe just fine! Either way, that doesn’t sound bad! Take that, media haters!
But what about those times when Ronaldo has openly rebuked Bale on the pitch for not passing him the ball, or when Ronaldo has been more concerned with whether he would be the one awarded a goal than with the fact that the team scored in the first place?
“We’ve never had a problem. I’ve never had an argument with him. He’s a very, very passionate person on the pitch—everyone knows that. He’s very determined. People sometimes seem to take that the wrong way. We haven’t had a problem.”
He added: “You definitely have to have teamwork. No one can ever do anything on their own. But you need a little bit of selfishness because that’s what you need as a front man.”
He’s not calling Ronaldo selfish, he’s just saying, in general, a little bit of selfishness—if someone is in fact selfish, which he’s not saying here—is good. Of course tempered by teamwork, naturally. And even if someone was selfish, it’s never been a problem, per se. Everything’s great.
Bale continues:
“We’ve found a good balance. We’re doing well, scoring a lot of goals, and hopefully we can peak now towards the end of the season and get some trophies.”
He said Ronaldo “gives everything” on the pitch, adding: “Whoever scores the goals we’re happy. We just want to win trophies.”
It’s all about balance, guys! Like the balance between selfishness and selflessness, or the balance two players who don’t really like each other strike up by focusing on the fine and problem-free aspects of their relationship for the betterment of the team and each other. Or, just regular, good old-fashioned balance. Like the Force.
And, again, Bale reiterates that “we” don’t care who scores the goals. Those times Ronaldo has looked sullen when Bale has shot and scored instead of playing Ronaldo in on goal were just Ronaldo showing his emotional balance. He can’t get all amped up for every Real Madrid goal the way he does his own or he wouldn’t have enough energy to go out and score so often!
Everyone should be convinced now. These two guys definitely don’t have clashing personalities that they avoid by keeping mostly to themselves. They definitely, definitely like each other.
[ESPN FC]