Did Ben Haim use magic to prevent Gareth Bale from scoring yesterday?

Viewers of yesterday’s Euro 2016 0-0 qualifier between Wales and Israel will have noticed one man in particular thwarting the red-hot Welsh side’s efforts to win the game and thus earn qualification from the group.

That thorn in the proverbial side was Tal Ben Haim, a defender most of us had thought retired long ago, spending most of yesterday’s international game lying on the ground holding his head and generally looking a bit simple.

Or was it all a ruse? 

This video gives us a second look at one of the match’s key moments when Welsh talisman Gareth Bale primed himself to leather a free kick from a dangerous area. As the midfielder ran up, Ben Haim waved his arms towards the ball in bewildering fashion, again and then again. Bale duly skies it over. Content with his magic spell, Ben-Haim runs off.

Did he summon a voodoo curse? Or possess some sort of gravity-shifting superpower which once also helped get his lumbering frame a move to Chelsea? By the fact the in-form Bale skies his shot well over the cross bar, we’re seriously considering it.

Want more damning evidence of magical one-upmanship? Israel also had Tal Ben-Haim II sitting on the bench – a clear body double for when the first one has spent his powers. Solid, dependable, capable of super powers - we wouldn't be surprised if Israel were cloning Ben-Haims at this point.

Forget the little magicians (Silva, Messi et al) - it's all about the big one.