Wales’ Gareth Bale crept a goal closer to Ian Rush’s record of 28 goals against Georgia, but that wasn’t the biggest talking point of the match.
Bale scored a towering header from Joe Ledley’s corner, bringing his total for his national side to 25 almost exactly 10 years on from his first goal, a free kick against Slovakia, as a 16-year-old.
However, having turned 27 in the summer and now only a hat-trick off Rush’s feat of 28 goals, breaking the record appears to be one of those “when” rather than “if” matters for the Real Madrid forward.
In fact, there is something much more important to be discussing – and we are’t talking about the fact Wales failed to win.
11' Whistles from the crowd as Bale's hair band slips off to reveal his Tarzan-esque locks. #TogetherStronger #WALGEO
— Gair Rhydd Sport (@GairRhyddSport) October 9, 2016
GARETH BALE HAS LOST HIS HAIR TIE! I REPEAT, GARETH BALE HAS LOST HIS HAIR TIE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!
— Travis (@HuskerTR) October 9, 2016
Revelation of the game so far: the length of Gareth Bale's hair!
— blogdroed OMB (@blogdroed) October 9, 2016
Highlight so far is not Bale's magnificent header. It's his hair band letting him down and his long, lustrous locks escaping.
— Scarlets Rugby Blog (@thescarletway) October 9, 2016
That’s right, for a minute or so, Bale took his hair out of his man-bun. Be prepared to be stunned.
Gareth Bale has the most majestic head of hair in world football pic.twitter.com/XQH3tQwmvw
— Conor (@ConorDevine51) October 9, 2016
People had a lot to say about the sight of Bale’s flowing locks, a lot of it complimentary.
How beautiful is @GarethBale11 s hair though 😍😍 pic.twitter.com/J1vme3IUU9
— Bale's Nation (@BaleNation) October 9, 2016
I'm actually jealous of Bale's hair, so nice pic.twitter.com/W3xMADD9Az
— Fatima (@FRALS_) October 9, 2016
Gareth Bale with his hair out is a joy to behold. pic.twitter.com/Bfm37E3P0U
— Paul McConnell (@paulmcconnell3) October 9, 2016
But not all of it…
Love Gareth Bale as a footballer. But my god, does he need a haircut #Bale pic.twitter.com/ShtckOxh5r
— Mark Townsend (@MarkTownsend10) October 9, 2016
OMG Gareth Bale looks disgusting with his hair out of his man bun 😷 #cutitoffplease #wales
— Nicola J (@NicolaJenkins27) October 9, 2016
If you're one of the best footballers on the planet, please don't spend 2 minutes doing your hair during a game #bale #WALGEO
— Steve (@stealthysteve_) October 9, 2016
Some had some empathy though.
“Bale’s redoing his hair. The man-bun had come undone”
— Aynsley (@Aynsleysains) October 9, 2016
The struggle is real bale. 🙌🏻
But others speculated a reason there may be a reason Bale grows his hair long…
Bale trying to hide his bald spot with that long hair like pic.twitter.com/Th2Cg9aURy
— Lukita (@ModricEsque) October 9, 2016
I'm actually gutted for Bale that he's losing his hair
— The Notorious (@WeirderThings) October 9, 2016
The game against Georgia ended 1-1 in the end, a disappointing result for Chris Coleman’s side after such an impressive run to the semi-finals of the European Championship earlier this year.
Bale did get agonisingly close to winning the match too with a few trademark free kicks, in a typically brilliant display. Some people may be wondering though, what would happen if he did cut his hair?
Imagine how good gareth bale could be if he didnt stress out about his hair
— Will Ryan (@willryan) October 9, 2016
