Gareth Bale on Monday announced his retirement from club and international soccer at the age of 33, bringing the curtain down on one of the most decorated careers in British soccer history.
The former Real Madrid star, who played his final match at last year’s World Cup, won five UEFA Champions League trophies and made a record 111 appearances for Wales, becoming their greatest goalscorer.
Bale led his country from the international soccer wilderness to two European Championships — reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2016 — and a first World Cup since 1958.
Photo: Reuters
The forward, who also played for Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Los Angeles FC, said after the World Cup in Qatar he would keep going for “as long as I’m wanted,” but the Cardiff-born player has decided to hang up his boots.
“After careful and thoughtful consideration, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football,” Bale wrote on his social media accounts.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have realized my dream of playing the sport I love,” he said. “It has truly given me some of the best moments of my life, the highest of highs over 17 seasons. That will be impossible to replicate, no matter what the next chapter has in store for me.”
Bale started his career at Southampton, but made his name in the Premier League at Tottenham, where he was twice named players’ player of the year.
After scoring 31 goals for club and country in the 2012-13 season, it was clear that Spurs would struggle to keep Bale and Real Madrid paid a then world record fee of about ￡85.3 (US$103.76 million at the current exchange rate) to sign him in September 2013.
The high point of Bale’s club career came in May 2018 when he scored twice in the 3-1 Champions League final victory over Liverpool, including a stunning overhead kick.
He also won three league titles in Spain, but had a troubled final few years in Madrid as injuries and a perceived lack of commitment pushed him to the fringes of the first team.
The forward joined Los Angeles FC last year and went on to win the MLS Cup in early November in his short stint in the US.
Bale started off his one and only World Cup campaign in style, scoring from the penalty spot in his country’s 1-1 draw with the US in November last year, but defeats to Iran and England meant Wales bowed out at the group stage in Qatar.
The Wales talisman, whose 41 goals make him the top goalscorer in the country’s history, issued a separate statement to his “Welsh family,” saying his decision to retire from international soccer had been “by far the hardest of my career.”
“My journey on the international stage is one that has changed not only my life, but who I am,” he said.
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
Soccer fans in England and Wales might be allowed to spend more time in pubs if their teams go far at the UEFA European Women’s Championship being held in Switzerland in July. The British government is launching a four-week consultation to discuss whether pubs can extend their opening hours from 11pm to 1am should England or Wales reach the semi-finals or final of Euro 2025. The British secretary of state for the home department has the power to extend licensing hours for occasions of “exceptional international, national or local significance,” the government said on Monday. England’s women’s team — whose players are nicknamed
RSS