Gareth Bale finds himself on receiving end of black magic from Israeli defender Tal Ben Haim

Ahead of their home game against Israel, the people of Wales were preparing to throw the mother of all football parties.

All Gareth Bale and his pals had to do was win and qualification for Euro 2016 - Wales' first major tournament since 1958 - was assured.

They were of course, left massively frustrated, as Israel somehow found a way of stopping Bale from scoring.

That's no mean feat. If there's one thing the Real Madrid man does well, it's scoring vital goals for his national team. In fact, it seems the Israelis had to go to extraordinary lengths to deny him.

Take a look at this clip, showing Bale about to take a free-kick from the edge of the box, and you'll see what we mean. Just watch what Tal Ben Haim (NOT the former Chelsea one) does:

Call it witchcraft, call it voodoo, call it black magic.

Whatever it is, it clearly worked - Bale blazed the free-kick over the bar. In fact, don't be surprised if you soon see La Liga defenders trying to cast spells of their own…