All hail to Spurs' Bale force

Gareth Bale was yesterday hailed in Britain's football press after his brilliant performance for Tottenham on Tuesday night in their 3-1 destruction of European champions Inter Milan.

"Hail Bale", was a predictable headline in the London Daily Mail while The Sun opted for "Bale Force blows away champs".

Rafael van der Vaart, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the goals for Spurs, but the inspiration came from another outstanding performance by the Welsh wizard.

If there was a story within the wider tale of Tottenham Hotspur's victory, it was of the merciless destruction of Brazilian World Cup star Maicon by Bale.

On more occasions than could be counted, the young Welshman with the lungs of an Olympic rower and the running power of a 400m champion, dashed past the defender, who was named in Fifa's team of the 2010 World Cup.

This was an occasion that Maicon will recall only in his nightmares. Meanwhile, the price of Bale rises several million every time he plays.

Van der Vaart summed up the Tottenham dressing-room's opinion of Bale after Tuesday night's game: "Everyone is so scared of Bale."

The Dutch international was on the bench when his team beat Brazil 2-1 in that World Cup quarterfinal in Port Elizabeth, so he knew all about Maicon's abilities.

"Maicon is the best rightback in the world. But Gareth killed him," said Van der Vaart.

Similarly, Inter knew all about Bale. When Spurs played Inter at the San Siro a fortnight ago, it was a hat-trick by Bale that brought his team back from 4-0 to 4-3, and almost snatched a draw.

"I'm enjoying every minute of my game," Bale said yesterday in The Sun.

"I always knew what I was capable of but the difference now is [that] I am being given the chance to learn my trade in training.

"The team as a whole have learned so much too by playing in Europe."

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp was delighted by the continuing good form of his winger, but would not single him out.

"Gareth was brilliant, but the whole team was brilliant - all of them," said Redknapp.

"We outplayed Inter. We were much the better team from start to finish. It was an outstanding performance, one of the greatest nights the fans have seen at White Hart Lane.

"You have to put it into perspective. Look at who we were playing against. Inter Milan. The Champions League holders.

"Bale was unstoppable and was playing against Brazil rightback Maicon, rated by many the best in the world.

"It's like you're a boxer knocking everybody out. But it's only when you do it against the top people that it counts. The Spurs fans knew it and before the end of the game, they were chanting: "Taxi for Maicon." - Sports staff