Gareth Bale has surprised the world of football and announced his retirement from the sport at the age of 33, leaving brilliant performances for renowned casts such as Southampton, Tottenham, Real Madrid and Los Angeles FC.
Gareth Bale, former soccer player Real Madridannounced this Monday his withdrawal from the professional football after 17 seasons in the elite.
The Welshman, whose last club was Los Angeles FCleave football to the 33 yearsafter a successful career in which he won five Champions Leaguethree spanish leagues and took his team to the Euro 2016 semifinals and their first World Cup since 1958.
“After careful consideration, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football”Bale said in a statement posted on his social media.
— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) January 9, 2023
“I feel incredibly lucky to have achieved the dream of dedicating myself to the sport that I love. It has given me some of the best moments of my life. Very good moments and bad moments in 17 seasons that are impossible to repeat, whatever the future holds for me,” he stressed.
Bale’s career took him from Southampton, al Tottenham Hotspurwhat did you pay 15 million euros for him in 2007. In the ‘Spurs’ He became one of the most important players in the world, playing on the left flank, both as a winger and as a winger, which aroused the interest of the Real Madridwhich in 2013 disbursed 100 million euros for him.
In the white club he reaped his greatest successes, with five Champions League titlesbeing decisive in two endingsin addition to three leagues, three Club World Cups, three European Super Cups and a Copa del Rey.
His eight seasons at the white club were marred by the last three, in which he was unable to take over from Cristiano Ronaldo and his disinterest and fall into injuries stained the record of one of the most important players in the recent history of Real Madrid.
“From my first cap with Southampton to my last cap with Los Angeles, and everything that has happened in between has resulted in a race that fills me with pride and gratitude. Playing for my country 111 times is a dream come true.”he claimed.
In his farewell letter, Bale remembered his clubs, Southampton, Tottenham, Real Madrid and LAFC, as well as his coaches, teammates, agents and family.
“Now I turn the page wanting to see the next chapter of my life. It is a time of change and transition, an opportunity for a new adventure”noted the Welshman.