Chris Gunter's Chinese Fan Club Is Just Fantastic

31 March 2018
By Hob Nob Anyone?

It's fair to say Chris Gunter is a Welsh football legend. He's the nation's all-time appearance holder and has yet to even hit his 30s. But still, it's somewhat of a surprise when an entire nation, other than Wales, really takes to him.

Wales' trip to China revealed one of the most surprising things to the world of football perhaps of all time. Chris Gunter is an absolute footballing icon in China. Yes, really.

Of course, don't take our word for it. Check out the video below:

On a serious note, Gunter was out there with the Welsh national team to take part in the China cup alongside China, Czech Republic and Uruguay. It was a special week for the right-back as he surpassed the late Gary Speed's record to become his country's most capped outfield player of all time.

And he has a fairly decent time of it too. Despite the Royals' lowly form, Gunter played the full 90 minutes against China in their 6-0 win and enjoyed 79 in their defeat against Uruguay in the Final.

It was a tough test for Gunter, who had to go up against the likes of Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and a side in which World Cup tips are suggesting will challenge into the latter stages.

Wales of course narrowly missed out on the World Cup, so it'll be a free summer for Gunter, along with much of the rest of the squad. Only Jon Dadi Bodvarsson has any real hope of being on a plane to Russia, with the Icelandic national team. It'll be their first World Cup tournament, following their incredible journey at Euro 2016, which saw them knock out England. Bodvarsson was a part of that team and will be out to cause a few surprises once again.

Elsewhere this week, Anssi Jaakkola remained on the bench for Finland in their draw with Macedonia and Leandro Bacuna got a full 90 minutes for Curacao in their 1-1 draw with Bolivia. Modou Barrow also got a game for The Gambia in their 1-1 draw with Central African Republic.

In the next few days, it'll be back to the job in hand as The Royals welcome back their new history maker and a Chinese legend. That counts for nothing though this weekend as Paul Clement looks to turn around Reading's fortunes in the Championship.

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