As the 2022 FIFA World Cup group stage opener between the United States and Wales drew closer, Kellyn Acosta put Gareth Bale on notice.
“I told him that I know that we’re boys and we play at the same club together, but when it comes to the national team I’m going to kick you all over the field,” Acosta said. “I don’t care.”
Acosta had already turned the page two days after sprinting off the bench for a euphoric in-your-face celebration with Bale when the Welsh forward elevated an incredible MLS Cup into a legendary moment for the Los Angeles Football Club.
The 27-year-old midfielder from Plano, Texas, one of 26 players selected by coach Gregg Berhalter to represent the U.S. in Qatar as part of America’s second-youngest World Cup roster since 1990, was focused on his next journey.
“Life of a footballer,” Acosta said. “Even if it’s one game, then it’s the next game. That’s just my mindset. In reality, the World Cup is something I dreamed of as a little boy.”
Acosta knows what the adult version of a kid’s dream might mean for his most famous LAFC teammate.
In the spirit of Kobe Bryant running through Pau Gasol at the 2008 Olympics, Acosta is prepared to knock Bale around and he expects his teammates to do the same Monday at Al Rayyan Stadium.
“Frenemies, right?” Acosta said. “I told him even building up to that game, if we were still training, I was going to kick him at training. I don’t want to hurt him, but give him a little knock so when he wakes up in the morning he feels it.”
Bale, 33, generally laughed off Acosta’s banter.
Why wouldn’t he?
The Welsh captain nabbed the last laugh enough times in his superstar career to rank among the most decorated European players of his generation at the club level.
That legacy continued with a leaping header over Philadelphia’s 6-foot-6 center back Jack Elliott. The latest goal in MLS history marked another moment of “Gareth being Gareth,” said LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo. “He’s a big player. Big qualities. A guy who makes big plays.
“Let’s hope he doesn’t in the first game of the World Cup.”
Answering his 43-year-old coach, a three-time World Cup veteran for the U.S., Bale found another opportunity to chuckle.
“I’m sure he doesn’t,” said the smiling 6-foot-1 forward. “But I’ll be trying to.”
Bale’s equalizer against the Union was a warning sign for the Americans, English and Iranians, which comprise Group B alongside Wales.
Possessing a Welsh-record 40 goals in 108 appearances while the rest of the Red Dragons roster has combined for 52 goals, it’s no wonder that questions about Bale’s fitness and World Cup preparation persisted after he joined LAFC in the middle of their championship year.
Without preseason for Bale to shake off the cobwebs, Cherundolo started Bale twice in the player’s 12 regular-season appearances with L.A., averaging less than a half hour of game time when he stepped on the field. The most he played in a match was 62 minutes.
Physical setbacks hampered Bale’s progression and challenged him mentally to stay fit for LAFC’s title run while ensuring he wouldn’t suffer an injury that prevented him from leading Wales in its first World Cup since 1958.
“That’s been in the back of my mind,” Bale acknowledged.
After arriving in Qatar, Bale declared himself fully prepared to play three 90-minute matches in nine days during the group stage. The last time Bale started and finished a match was with Wales in September for a Nations League loss to Poland.
Despite playing a total of 28 minutes for LAFC since then, Bale’s dramatic performance Nov. 5 in the MLS title game allayed concerns over his ability to make a sustained difference for Wales.
“He scored an important goal for L.A.,” said Welsh head coach Rob Page, who took over the team in 2020 and was awarded with a four-year contract after qualifying for Qatar. “He showed athleticism to get the header. Has he played as many minutes as we’d like? Probably not. But that doesn’t worry me.”
The Americans have no such issues with Acosta, who was as steady a performer during qualifying and regional competitions for the past two years as anyone on the roster.
Catapulting off a strong 2021, the meat-and-potatoes midfielder said the move to LAFC helped him mature as a person and footballer, thanks partly to Bale’s mentorship.
Acosta claimed to be in top form with more to give coming off the high of the MLS Cup, but chances are he won’t start opposite Bale on Monday in what stacks up as a deep American midfield.
Whomever Berhalter selects will at least have heard Acosta’s eyewitness scouting report on Bale’s dangerous left foot and where the Welshman can be beaten.
“I’ve interacted with him every day for the past months and I’ve seen a guy that’s hungry and eager,” Acosta said. “A guy that wants to play. I think this tournament is going to be just like that. I see him running everywhere. He’ll be tackling – maybe, we’ll see.
“Obviously a player like Gareth, if you give him time and space, he will exploit you. We saw here in the MLS Cup final, you give him a yard or two, he’ll score an important goal, so he’s definitely someone we have to highlight. But they do have special players and from a whole team standpoint we gotta be ready for the challenge.”
Bale and the tested Wales group advanced to the semifinals of the Euros in 2016, then put together another strong run in 2020. In June, a month before Bale surprisingly joined LAFC, Wales survived a World Cup playoff match with Ukraine because its captain scored the lone goal to secure their spot in Qatar.
For the youthful U.S., this World Cup marks a return to the competition after missing out in 2018.
Four years away isn’t 64, even if it may have felt that way for some people. Acosta was on the field in Trinidad and Tobago when the men’s national team fell short last cycle. Now, the midfielder said, his team is eager to show it can beat the world’s best, beginning with their crucial opening match of the group stage.
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Since 1994, 84% of the teams that won their first game advanced from the group to the knockout portion of the tournament.
“We take it game by game and the first one is against Gareth Bale and Wales,” Acosta said. “I’m excited for it. I can’t wait to kick him. Knowing Gareth, there is going to be good banter going home. Hopefully we get a positive result against them.”
United States vs. Wales
What: World Cup Group B match
When: 11 a.m. Monday
Where: Al Rayyan Stadium, Qatar
TV: Fox/Telemundo