Gareth Bale could not have struck it more sweetly.
It was dipping, it was swerving and it was rocketing into the upper 90. It seemed like a certain late equalizer.
Then, out of nowhere, came this Kasper Schmeichel save vs Bale.
One of the greatest saves you could ever dream of making, the Schmeichel save vs Bale allowed Denmark to beat Wales 2-1 in the UEFA Nations League B Group 4, locking up first place and promotion for the Danes on Friday.
Nicolai Jørgensen opened the scoring in the 42nd minute to finish a nice counterattack. Wales, playing at home, had 53 percent of possession and took 18 shots — seven on target. The Schmeichel save vs Bale kept it 0-0 in the 82nd minute and into the 88th minute when Martin Braithwaite put the game away with a nice volleyed finish.
Bale did eventually find a way past Schmeichel, however. In the 89th minute, Bale zipped past the Danish defense, took a touch past the Leicester City goalkeeper and put away a late consolation goal.
A draw would’ve been enough for Wales to stay atop the group standings, but considering the last match of the group features Denmark against already relegated Ireland, Wales really needed to win on Friday to earn promotion to League A.
One last note on the Schmeichel save vs Bale: The feature image on this article is absolutely out of this world, almost as good as the save itself. Props to Getty Images photographer James Williamson. Here it is again.
Schmeichel save vs Bale. Photo: James Williamson | Getty Images
Somehow, Schmeichel still belongs to Leicester. One of these days, someone's going to offer the Foxes a lot of money to bring him to one of the biggest clubs in the world.
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