China put to the sword in Gigg's first game as Wales' manager

Gareth Bale has scored Wales’s first hat-trick since 2004 against an admittedly poor China.

In a match that was meant to be all about the inauguration of Ryan Giggs, the new Wales manager, like his predecessors, soon learnt that he would have to settle for second billing to Gareth Bale.


37,000 supporters were on hand to cheer the teams. China were poor but Giggs would not downplay his first victory. He remained calm on the touchline, a couple of times complaining to the linesman about tough tackles and later taking issue with the length of the grass. The only time that he issued instructions to his players was after making a spate of substitutions.

The former Manchester United icon will be cautious about reading too much into his success until he faces better opposition — probably on Monday when they will play either Uruguay or the Czech Republic, the other two teams in the China Cup.