Wales boss Coleman hails modest Bale

Wales manager Chris Coleman praised Gareth Bale's work ethic after the Real Madrid CF forward inspired a potentially decisive 3-0 win in Israel.

Bale made the first goal before the break for Aaron Ramsey in Haifa before scoring twice himself in the second half to send Wales top of UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group B, two points ahead of Israel. Even by Bale's standards it was a stellar performance.

Coleman explained: "We see Gareth a lot and he was outstanding today. For every player that comes to the team he is inspiration. We now what he can give to us and he is the kind of guy that will never fail you."

The manager added: "Our biggest strength is the togetherness in the group. The players all know their jobs and what their roles and responsibilities are. The reason we are doing well is because everybody is doing a little bit for someone else in the group.”

Bale himself was typically modest. "We still have much work to do to reach EURO 2016 in France; we've put ourselves in a great position but we can't rest right now. I'm very proud that I scored, I've heard everything people said about me but my main concern is to represent Wales with honour.

“We knew what a big game it was. It's a top of the table clash; we don't often get to be in that position, and to come out on top is amazing. We're only halfway there, there's still a lot of games to go and anything can happen. Hopefully our performances and results can do the talking."

Bale’s team-mate Chris Gunter told UEFA.com: "We've worked hard all week on the way we were going to set up and the game plan worked really well. It's a fantastic victory to come here, after the start Israel have had. It's a big result for us and keeps us going along very nicely."