Gareth Bale can cope with the pressure of replacing Cristiano Ronaldo as the star man at Real Madrid, says his Wales manager Ryan Giggs.
Bale has become the main forward at Real since Ronaldo's summer departure to Juventus, scoring in their opening La Liga wins against Getafe and Girona.
"When someone like Cristiano leaves there is always going to be a spotlight on who is going to replace him goal-wise and threat-wise," Giggs said.
"It's a massive void to fill but Gareth has the experience now of being at the club for a long time. Every year there is pressure on him and he has handled it brilliantly."
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Giggs said Ronaldo's departure meant there will be more focus on the players who are going to score the goals.
But he added: "Gareth has shown his qualities in big games and that he can handle anything that is thrown at him."
Bale became Wales's top goalscorer earlier this year when his 29th international goal took him past Ian Rush's record.
Bale, 29, who joined Real from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013, is part of a 25-man Wales squad for next month's Uefa League of Nations games against the Republic of Ireland and Denmark.
"He has started this season on fire," Giggs said. "But there's never really a time when he is not playing well.
"I think always the problem with Gareth is that when he has been injured, he's then had to come back and get more game time. But when he plays, he always plays well and more or less scores."
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
