Gareth Bale has lifted the lid on his race for fitness before his stunning equalizer in last year's MLS Cup vs. the Philadelphia Union.

Bale, who joined the club in June of last year, repeatedly struggled with injuries and made just two regular season starts for the team.

Those health issues persisted as LAFC made a run to MLS' championship, but as Bale explains in a new video, he wasn't going to miss a final if he could help it.

'Leading up to the MLS Cup Final I probably wasn't in the best of shape and I had a few problems,' he said on MLS Season Pass' 'Playoff Moments.' 

'You try to patch yourself up, you try and recover, you try and do as much treatment as you can to get yourself ready and to give it my all. Because I knew how much it meant.'

The Welshman had not appeared in the earlier rounds of the playoffs before his side faced Eastern Conference champions the Union.

And while he wasn't fit enough to start the final, he told assistant coach Marc Dos Santos that he could still be relied on.

'How many minutes you think you have inside?' Dos Santos remembered asking him.

'If we need a goal, you could put me in,' Bale replied.

That's exactly what happened as Bale entered the match with the game tied in extra time, and he saved his team from the jaws of defeat with an 128th minute header to bring the game to penalty kicks.

From there, LAFC finished off their opponents and Bale's powerful header was etched in MLS lore before he retired from soccer the following January.