By Habeeb Kuranga
Former Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur winger, Gareth Bale has officially announced his retirement from football.
The 33-year-old whose career started at Southampton has put an end to what was an illustrious career as a footballer, in a lengthy post. The Welshman’s last club before the announcement was the Los Angeles FC in the Major League Soccer (MLS) where he scored just two goals in 12 outings and subsequently won the MLS Cup.
— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) January 9, 2023
The winger had two stints with North London-based club, Tottenham Hotspur, where he had over 100 goal contributions. His most successful year as a footballer is unarguably when he was signed up by Real Madrid for a reported fee of £89 million (a British record). During his eight years stay in the Spanish capital, Bale won five UEFA Champions League titles, three La Liga titles, four Club World Cups, three Super Cups, and one Copa del Rey amongst other trophies. The move later ended on a bad note, after falling out with Zinedine Zidane and the current Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti.
Bale is also the all-time’s top goalscorer for the Welsh National team as he plundered 40 goals in 111 matches.
In totality, Bale scored 226 goals and provided 151 assists in 665 matches for both club and country.