Gareth Bale responds to question on Wales international future

Gareth Bale shut down questions on whether the World Cup match against England would be his last for Wales on Tuesday, issuing a flat "no" when asked the question outright.

The Welsh captain is his country's most capped men's international player, though speculation has been surrounding the 33-year-old's future at both club and international level for a number of months.

Bale moved to LAFC in MLS in order to prepare for the World Cup after leaving Real Madrid, and while he scored an equaliser against the United States in game one of Wales' tournament in Qatar the team have underperformed on the whole, losing 2-0 to Iran last time out.

They need a win against England to stand any chance of making it through to the knockout stages, and are dependent on other results. Wales' position in the group and potential fate has naturally produced questions about what happens beyond the England game if Wales go home, but Bale flat out dismissed the question with a no.

Bale did though go into detail on his side's campaign in Qatar so far, admitting the mood in the camp was low after conceding twice to Iran.

"We’re disappointed in the results and the performances," he said a day out from the England match. "But that’s football, it’s not easy, we're at a World Cup against some very good teams and we’ll always give 100%. We’ve been working hard the last few days to make things better and correct things.

"We don't need to get anyone going, just need to keep working hard and hopefully things will turn around for us.

"I don't feel [added] responsibility because we’re a team. We’re a nation and we work hard for each other. We need to deliver as a team, it’s not one person that needs to do anything. Of course we’d have loved to be winning and doing a lot better but the reality is, football is hard. If it was that easy we’d be favourites to win the World Cup. We need to stick together and we’ll give 100% tomorrow like we always do.

"The one thing I always do is give 100%. I was flying into tackles in the 90th minute the other day. I’ll just try and lead by example."

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The World Cup has seen a number of shock results occur to date, with Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia and Morocco beating Belgium among others. Wales beating England would be a result in a similar bracket, but Bale is confident England have weaknesses to exploit.

"Everyone has weaknesses. We’ve done our homework. We’ve had meetings and I'm sure they’ve done the same with us. We know how difficult it will be. England are a very good team, They're one of the favourites to win the tournament. We are under no illusions, it will be hard, we’re going to give everything like we always do.

"There’s been a few shocks in the tournament already and there’s no reason why we can’t do the same."

Wales manager Rob Page hinted during his own press conference that Bale or Aaron Ramsey would not necessarily start the game against England, hinting at a need for fresh blood with Wales struggling for energy at times during their opening matches.

Bale is one of the leading players in the camp and remains firm that the team remain together and confident of turning things around against England.

"Yeah of course we have our responsibility to help everybody," he added. "At this current moment we are not in the greatest of positions and we have not had an amazing tournament. But it is football, it is not easy. It is difficult. The main thing for us all is that we have stuck together as a group, like we have always done.

"We will fight again. We will go on the pitch and give everything. You saw our reaction when we conceded against Iran, how devastated we all were, lying on the floor. Heartbroken. After the game everybody was upset. No one can ever question our commitment but we will all stick together through thick and thin, through the ups and downs. We will give everything again tomorrow."