Thursday, November 4, 2010

Theo walcott is faster than me: Bale

Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale believes Arsenalwide man Theo Walcott is faster than him.

The Welshman has had the spotlight shine on him after two mesmerising performances against current European champions Inter, as he scored a hat-trick at the San Siro and followed it up with two important assists at White Hart Lane.

And in both games the 21-year-old used his pace and skill to make a mockery of Brazilian full-back Maicon.

However, Bale has his feet firmly on the ground — as he insists that his former Southampton team-mate Walcott would have the beating of him in a race.

"I've never worked with a sprint coach, I just put my foot down and run as hard as I can," Bale told The Sun.

"I've never worked with a skills coach either, I've always liked dribbling with a ball and now I'm showing it in games.

"Maybe I owe some thanks to my PE teacher at school, who at one time banned me from using my left foot in practice games. He'd only let me use my right - and that definitely helped improve it.

"As for how quickly I can cover ground, as I have grown older I have become more powerful and that is all I can honestly put the speed down to. Of course I work hard on the training ground, but I don't do anything special.

"Back when I was a schoolkid I'd do distance running and the sprints as well. I could run 100 metres in a little over 11 seconds but I have never been timed by anyone at Tottenham.

"Is there anyone faster than me in football? Well, Theo Walcott at Arsenal for one. I used to room with him when we were both teenagers at Southampton and he is definitely quicker than me.

"We're good mates and I keep in contact with Theo regularly. But yes, he'd beat me in a race."

Now Bale hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow Welshman and Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs.

"He's shown, ever since he made his debut, what a good player and what a good person he is for football," he said, according to the Press Association.

"He's an amazing person to follow and hopefully I can come a little bit near him."

And with comparisons with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi cropping up, he added: "It's obviously nice to get people talking about you, saying nice things.

"But I know I have to keep working hard and keep improving and that's all I want to do."

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