Gareth Bale, a senior striker, won a late penalty kick that gained Wales a 1-1 draw with the United States on Monday. This allowed Wales to avoid making a losing comeback to the World Cup after a hiatus of 64 years. The match took place at the boisterous Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Group B.
After being brought to the ground by the defender for the United States, Tim Ream, in the penalty area, Wales’ all-time leading scorer stepped up to take the spot kick in the 82nd minute and made no mistake by blasting the ball into the top corner in front of the “Red Wall” of spectators.
The United States began the competition with a lot of energy and grabbed a well-deserved 1-0 lead thanks to a goal scored by Timothy Weah in the 36th minute. The United States were one of the youngest teams in the tournament and were also competing after an absence of eight years. They should have taken a larger lead into halftime against the Welsh defence, but instead they got off to a bad start.
Weah, the son of current Liberian President George Weah and a former World Player of the Year, perfectly timed his run after receiving a perfectly weighted pass from Christian Pulisic, and then he slipped the ball past the goalkeeper for Wales, Wayne Hennessey. Weah is also a former World Player of the Year.
