The happiness of the two goals he scored that gave Wales a 2-1 victory over Austria in the World Cup playoffs did not last long for Gareth Bale, who on Friday responded strongly to an article in which a Spanish journalist he described it as a “parasite”.
Bale said on Twitter that the column published by the Marca newspaper was “an example of defamatory, derogatory and speculative journalism.”
“At a time when people are taking their lives because of the insensitivity and harassment of the press,” Bale said, “I want to know who these journalists are accountable to and the media that allow them to write articles like this.”
In an opinion piece published on Thursday, titled “The Welsh parasite”, the writer Manuel Juliá said that, after playing well in his first seasons at Real Madrid, Bale now does nothing but “suck the blood (of the club) without contributing anything ”.
The column was illustrated with a drawing of a mosquito with Bale’s face on the Real Madrid shield.
Bale maintained that the press asks too much of athletes and ruthlessly criticizes them when they do not perform as expected, regardless of their mental health.
“Instead of taking pity on (athletes) when they make the slightest human error, they beat them to a pulp, encouraging fan discomfort and disappointment,” Bale wrote. “The pressures athletes face every day are enormous and it’s clear that negative media treatment can wreak havoc on a highly stressed athlete, or any public figure.”
Many Real Madrid fans believe that Bale has not performed to the best of his ability since joining the club in 2013 for what was then a record transfer fee of 100 million euros ($132 million). There are fans and journalists who think that Bale does not put the same effort into his club that he shows when he wears the Wales shirt.
Bale had great moments with the merengue team and scored goals in the 2014 and 2018 Champions League finals, won by Real Madrid.
But then he suffered several injuries and coach Zinedine Zidane did not take it into account.
Last year he played on loan with his old club, Tottenham, and now he has returned to the Spanish capital.
But neither has it been used almost by the new coach Carlo Ancelotti. Still, they keep calling him up for the national team and he had a brilliant performance on Thursday against Austria.
Bale is 32 years old and his contract with Real Madrid expires in June.