Wales captain Gareth Bale hit out at the Madrid press after last night's World Cup playoff victory over Austria.

Bale was superb for Wales, scoring the winning goal just days after claiming he couldn't play in the defeat at home to Barcelona due to injury. His availability for his country saw Marca brand Bale as a "parasite".

In response, the former Tottenham attacker said: "I don't need to send a message, honestly. It's a waste of time. It's disgusting and they should be ashamed of themselves too. I'm not bothered. End.

"We knew how important it was an important match that we had to play. We dug deep and, look at our experience in big games. It's a perfect scenario."