Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale of Wales leads the applause for the fans after the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group B match between Wales and England at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on ...

"So, I move on with anticipation to the next stage of my life. "My wife and my children, your love and support has carried me through. "I feel incredibly fortunate to have realised my dream of playing the sport I love.

Five-time Champions League winner and Welsh football icon Gareth Bale has retired at the age of 33.

How do I put into words the way I felt, every single time I put on that Welsh shirt? “So, I move on with anticipation to the next stage of my life. How do I articulate the impact it has had on my life? “It was an honor to have one of the most talented, dynamic and exciting players of his generation finish his career with a title for LAFC, and we wish Gareth, his wife Emma, and their family nothing but the best in their future endeavors,” LAFC Co-President & General Manager John Thorrington said in a statement. “My decision to retire from International football has been, by far the hardest of my career,” he said in a separate “I feel indebted to many people for helping to change my life and shape my career in a way I couldn’t have ever dreamed of when I first started out at 9 years old.

Forward calls time on decorated career at age 33, says football has given him some of life's 'best moments'.

“My journey on the international stage is one that has changed not only my life but who I am. “I feel incredibly fortunate to have realised my dream of playing the sport I love. As captain and talisman, he led Wales to their first World Cup since 1958 at Qatar 2022.

The winger was once the world's most expensive football player when he joined Real Madrid for NZ$206 million in 2013.

Injuries and a breakdown in his relationship with former Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane led to Bale becoming a peripheral figure in the Spanish capital. He has won Wales' player of the year award six times. He scored 53 Premier League goals and 81 in La Liga.

Gareth Bale is retiring from football at age 33 after setting a Wales record with 41 international goals. Bale's last match was a 3-0 loss to England at the ...

How do I put in to words the way I felt, every single time I put on that Welsh shirt?” Bale said. But I know that every person involved in Welsh football, feels the magic, and is impacted in such a powerful and unique way, so I know you feel what I feel, without using any words at all.” I am honored and humbled to have been able to play a part in the history of this incredible country, to have felt the support and passion of the red wall, and together have been to unexpected and amazing places.” “I move on with anticipation to the next step in my life,” he said. Wales then gave up a pair of goals in second-half stoppage time in a 2-0 loss to Iran. How do I articulate the impact it has had on my life?

Wales and Los Angeles FC winger Gareth Bale has decided to end his playing career at the age of 33, after reaching exceptional milestones in both club and ...

The Wales forward has retired with a glittering CV but it was his breathtaking style which set him apart from the rest.

And perhaps it was inevitable that for a player who played to feel, who specialised in crafting moments of perfection and wonder, the half-cocked, pedalled-down extended dotage was never going to suit him. And to think this was once a skinny £5m left-back who failed to win any of his first 24 games for the club and was initially kept out of the side by Benoît Assou-Ekotto. In spirit and attitude Wales is Bale’s team, and here again Bale departs having bequeathed a clutch of match-winning, heart-stopping memories. [Southampton](https://www.theguardian.com/football/southampton) gave him a start and Tottenham catapulted him to stardom, then it was in Wales red that he went on the greatest journey of all. [Bale signed for a world-record fee](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/01/gareth-bale-real-madrid-transfer-tottenham), won everything there was to win and yet somehow lost something of himself too. What was the point in taking a free-kick unless you were going to leather it into the top corner? [2018 Champions League final](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/may/26/real-madrid-liverpool-champions-league-final-match-report) is probably his best-remembered goal. In so doing he single-handedly dragged a squad containing Steven Caulker, Kyle Naughton and Lewis Holtby to the verge of the Champions League. What was the point in running unless you were going to do it as jaw-droppingly fast as possible? Most Madrid players either got this and devoted themselves to a life of service (Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Ángel Di María), or they left. Watch back some of his greatest goals and you can almost glimpse the school tie flapping behind him as he runs, a battered sponge ball sticking to his feet, the cautious teacher carrying a tray of orange squash across the penalty area. In hindsight, Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013 was simply too good and too brash to be surpassed or outdone.

It is objectively true that Gareth Bale has had a fantastic footballing career, excelling at the very pinnacle of the game. An output of 142 goals and 70 ...

As he bids adieu to the game, one thing is certain: Gareth Bale is a legend of the game. Out of nowhere, Real Madrid was ahead and as always, Gareth Bale delivered on the biggest stage. As arch-rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona fought a competitive game where both teams denied the other a lot of chances, Bale scored arguably the best goal of his career. However, it is during his time in Real Madrid that injuries really started to take a toll, putting Bale out for long durations – Gareth Bale would play over 30 games in only one season at the club (2014-15). However, just two minutes later, he scored what is regarded by many as the greatest goal of a Champions League final. In fact, beyond aggregate output, Gareth Bale will be most remembered for the many moments of pure footballing magic that he provided fans. Wherever Bale played, he always excelled in the biggest moments. Spurs would go on to win the tie in the second leg, with Bale contributing with two more assists. Gareth Bale signed for Real Madrid for a record fee of £85.1 million. Bale ended the season with five goals and eight assists, a great return for a fullback. At Spurs, Bale took a couple of seasons to get settled, with injuries affecting his playing time as well. While he provided many a moment to cherish and remember, on the whole, one is left wondering what could have been.

The former Tottenham and Real Madrid winger remains a legend of the national team, having guided Wales to two European Championships and its first FIFA ...

It has truly given me some of the best moments of my life. “After careful and thoughtful consideration, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football,” Bale said on Twitter. Bale played a Wales record of 111 games for his country and was a five-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid.

Wales manager Rob Page reveals details of his conversation with Gareth Bale ahead of his retirement announcement; I told him I think its the right time to ...

He was the first through the building and he's a credit to himself and his family the way he conducts himself in the group. "We appreciate their forthrightness in coming to us when they did. "There's a mixture of emotions for me. When the time is right we'll talk about what capacity we keep him involved." You've just scored in a World Cup and got everything on your CV, what you've done for this country is unbelievable." It's not the news we wanted to start the new year with but we knew it was going to come one day. The roles might have changed slightly. "When you've got someone of Bale's stature and what he's done for Wales, the impact he can have - even being in the changing room and the impact he can have on the players, then I've got to take advantage of that. We just didn't know when it was going to come." He was so proud to put that jersey on. "I've now worked with him for a couple of years and when I was in the U21s, I could see from afar that he was passionate about playing for his country. "He's put Wales on the map globally for what he's done in European football at Real Madrid and what he did at Tottenham in the Premier League and then in the World Cup with Wales.

Manager Rob Page has paid tribute to "phenomenal" Cymru captain Gareth Bale following his retirement from football on Monday.

"It's phenomenal what he's done for us, not just from a footballing point of view but as a nation as well," said Page. Now having worked with him closely, it's another level again because he's so proud every time he puts on that jersey and it comes through with him. From a cultural point of view and Wales in general, everyone should be proud of what he's done for us.

The Manchester City boss wants to be one of the featured groups in Gareth Bale's retirement golf bonanza.

It has morphed from a media narrative to self-fulfilling prophecy in recent years, and who better to talk Guardiola out of it than Mr. Less than 24 hours after the Welshman’s announcement, he is already receiving invites to tee it up from all across sports, including from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, a mad-hatter-level soccer genius currently pushing to win his fifth Premier League title in the last six seasons. [announcing his retirement](https://twitter.com/GarethBale11/status/1612466979373461504) at the age of 33.

Wales is a country that often feels sidelined, but he became an ambassador that couldn't be ignored.

For a few years he was one of the best players in the world, [the Copa del Rey final of 2014](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/apr/16/barcelona-real-madrid-copa-del-rey-match-report-gareth-bale) where it was easier for him to run off the pitch and round the Barcelona player trailing in his wake was a carbon copy of [something he’d done for Wales against Iceland](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/05/wales-iceland-international-friendly-match-report) a few months before. He has done far more to put Wales on the map than any individual in my lifetime. [It had to be him](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/11/gareth-bale-wales-slovakia-european-championship-group-b-football). His blend of sporting ingenuity and craving to win could prompt the unorthodox; the goal he scored in Failure to qualify for a major tournament had been a festering wound in Wales for 58 years and bordered on a national obsession, but Bale seemed to thrive on the responsibility. [in the first game of Euro 2016](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/11/wales-slovakia-euro-2016-match-report) by scoring after 10 minutes and when the euphoria in the stands died down the 24,000 Wales fans who’d made the trip to Bordeaux looked at each other and wondered which celestial being to thank. [Wales](https://www.theguardian.com/football/wales) shirt who was capable of the miraculous, with a passion for representing his country that crackled like electricity. Someone who could succeed for his country where the superstars of the past had failed. Playing at left-back for his club, a folly met with utter disbelief by Toshack and the Wales intermediate team manager Brian Flynn, the visionaries instrumental in playing him further up the pitch, Bale’s progress was initially gradual. One hundred and eleven caps and 41 goals ago, a 16-year-old Gareth Bale made his debut for Wales at a time when the landscape around the team was very different. There seemed to be a conveyor belt of teenagers, but we worried none would make the grade.

Vancouver Whitecaps sign Uruguayan defender Laborda Vancouver Whitecaps FC have added a second center back ahead of the 2023 MLS season, announcing Monday ...

[signed Eldin Jakupović from English Premier League side Everton](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/lafc-sign-goalkeeper-eldin-jakupovic-from-everton). [re-signed midfielder Amar Sejdić to a one-year contract](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/atlanta-united-re-sign-midfielder-amar-sejdic) with club options for 2024 and 2025. [signed the midfielder on a free transfer](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/sebas-mendez-joins-brazil-s-sao-paulo-after-4-year-mls-career). [Sign up for The Daily Kickoff in your inbox!](https://www.mlssoccer.com/newsletters/) The Daily Kickoff is more than an article – it can be delivered to your email account as well. - The San Jose Earthquakes picked up Michael Baldisimo in the Re-Entry Draft and were able to sign him to a new deal. [signed Arnaud Souquet from Ligue 1 side Montpellier HSC](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/chicago-fire-sign-defender-arnaud-souquet-from-ligue-1-s-montpellier) on a free transfer. Back in November, San Jose selected Baldisimo in Stage 2 of the 2022 MLS Re-Entry Draft. But they’re on a bit of a hot streak as of late when it comes to making steps in the right direction. The Five Stripes still have a long way to go to get their roster up to their fanbase’s standards. Some things will have to break their way, but is it really that far-fetched to see this group putting in a string of consistent performances that keep them above the line for most of the year? Yeah, it would have been nice to have him around for a CCL run, but he wouldn’t have been a locked-in starter. The 23-year-old had exclusively played for Nacional in his home country and now inks a three-year guaranteed deal through 2025 with an option for 2026.

The Wales, Tottenham, Real Madrid and LAFC forward has abruptly retired, though it is a choice befitting a player capable of shining so bright.

However, he was a shadow of his best in Qatar, scoring his country's only goal from the penalty spot against the U.S., and after an ineffectual display against Iran, Bale was substituted with an injury at half-time in defeat to England. He sought a balanced life, joy away from the club game on the golf course or in the unusually close camaraderie of his Wales teammates. Bale's decline had begun, and he had no interest in raging against the dying of the light. Wales successfully reached the delayed Euro 2020 finals, but it was in reaching the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the country's first in 64 years, that Bale took his homeland to places they could only dream of. What shone through brightest in the latter part of his career, however, was a genuine love and affection for Wales, something that had always been there in his early years. Euro 2016 marked Wales' first finals appearance in 58 years, and they reached the semifinals with Bale at the heart of everything, scoring three times. His second-half hat trick was no fluke; rather, it was the product of his fearsome pace and direct style. It came as a shock only because he insisted in the immediate aftermath of Wales' World Cup group stage exit in Qatar that he would continue. Bale's overhead kick in the 2018 Champions League final against Liverpool was a goal so stunning it is seared into the memory banks forever. Tottenham would end up losing 4-3 to Inter Milan, but Bale's hat trick demonstrated a mixture of devastation and defiance that would come to encapsulate his career. The sad truth is that recently his body has shown signs of wear not because of the miles travelled but from the scorching speeds he reached. In the end, Gareth Bale decided it was better to burn out than fade away.