Gareth Bale, who may be leaving Madrid at the end of the summer, gave Ryan Giggs a managerial debut to remember with a record-breaking hat-trick against China in a rampant 6-0 win in the first game of the China Cup. Despite having a population of 1.4bn, China has never really got going in the footballing world. They have improved in recent years with Marcello Lippi at the helm but were made to look sub-standard against a Welsh team that boasts one of the world's best players in Bale and a host of experienced Premier League veterans.
Gareth Bale starts as Giggs names strong Wales team
Bale started the game, with Giggs opting for a strong side amongst rumours that the Welsh FA would lose out on some of their appearance fees if their talisman didn't feature. Notable absences from first-team players Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal and Derby County's Joe Ledley led to a first start for Liverpool's young starlet Harry Wilson and an opportunity for Declan John, currently playing for Rangers, to impress on the left of midfield.
Giggs named a host of young untested prospects amongst the bench, none more so promising than Ben Woodburn, also at Liverpool, who scored a memorable first goal on his debut against Austria.
Wales get off to a fast start as Gareth Bale takes control
It took only two minutes for the nerves of the new manager, Ryan Giggs, to settle when Real Madrid star Bale took full advantage of a hesitant Chinese defence to put Sam Vokes' flick-on into the net.
China pressed wales heavily for a period, but any thoughts of getting a foothold in the game were put to bed when Bale popped up again to capitalise on another mistake by their defence and put the ball past goalkeeper Yan, on 21 minutes.
Bale turned provider on 37 minutes when he played his cross into Andy King at the back post to set up Sam Vokes, who had outmanoeuvred He Guan, for the easiest of finishes.
Harry Wilson piled on the misery for Marcello Lippi's men scoring on the stroke of half-time with a lovely curling left-footed effort that sailed past Yan.
Bale hat-trick sends him to the top of the list
It would be fair to think that Wales would take their foot off the pedal a little in the second half, but Bale's two first-half goals had put him level with Ian Rush on 28 goals for his country.
The Southampton Academy graduate tried a speculative effort from 30 yards, but Yan was equal to it.
It was Sam Vokes who beat the offside trap by more than a yard to put away a defence-splitting pass by Wilson on 58 minutes to put Wales five goals clear. Just a few minutes later, Gareth Bale made history with his third of the game, latching on to the end of a Joe Allen long ball, and his 29th Welsh goal to take him past the legendary Rush.
Six goals up, Giggs rang in the changes and Gareth Bale was taken off to a standing ovation. Ben Woodburn made a brief appearance, along with the likes of Chris Mepham and Tom Lockyer, to gain some invaluable experience and Yu Hanchao almost had a spectacular goal for the hosts, only to be denied by a stretching Wayne Hennessey.
Giggs will be happy with the overall performance. Wales looked clinical and ruthless in his first tilt, but he'll be counting his blessings that Gareth Bale was born in Wales, hopefully for years to come.
