USMNT's Kellyn Acosta on stopping Gareth Bale at World Cup: 'We've got to literally start kicking him'

The two LAFC men just won MLS Cup, but on Monday they'll be opponents

While they're teammates at club level for Los Angeles FC, Gareth Bale and Kellyn Acosta will square off when Wales and the United States kick off their World Cup journeys on Monday at 2 p.m. ET. Not long removed from lifting MLS Cup, they'll now be on opposite ends of the pitch, and while Acosta isn't expected to start in midfield, few would know better than him how to stop Bale when he leads the line for Wales. 

After joining MLS, Bale struggled to acclimate, scoring only three goals in 13 matches played for LAFC. But when the lights shined the brightest, Bale rose above Jack Elliott of the Philadephia Union to score a stoppage-time equalizer, pushing the title match into extra time and eventually penalties where LAFC triumphed.

The USMNT won't want to suffer the same fate against Wales as a goal could decide what will be a tightly contested Group B. Pitted against England and Iran, the matches will be competitive, and stopping a big-game player like Bale is a priority.