Chris Coleman hails 'breathtaking' Gareth Bale

By Matt Cotton, Reporter | 15 August 2012

Chris Coleman says that Gareth Bale shares the same abilities as Ryan Giggs and hopes that he can help Wales to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Wales manager Chris Coleman has praised Gareth Bale by comparing him to Welsh compatriot Ryan Giggs.

The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has been selected in his country's squad for Wednesday night's friendly with Bosnia after missing out on the Olympics through injury.

Wales haven't qualified for a World Cup since 1958, but Coleman is hoping that Bale can help change that statistic.

"He is a magnificent player, you don't see players have their breath taken away very often but in training he did two or three things that were unbelievable," said Coleman.

"Giggs had that, when we came away with Wales he had so much ability that we would just start laughing because he would do something ridiculous, on another level.

"It is the same with Gareth, you know you are in the presence of something special. You look at how he is built, he is 6ft 1in, he is a racehorse, but he has amazing ability as well and he is a special player, a great player."

Bale returns to action for Spurs when they travel to Newcastle United on Saturday.