Former Real Madrid Player Gareth Bale has retired from football at the age of 33.
The Wales captain, who was playing for Los Angeles FC in 2022 published a statement on social media announcing the move saying that he came to a decision after carefully thinking about it.
“After careful and thoughtful consideration, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football,” he wrote.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have realised my dream of playing the sport I love.”
The Cardiff-born star’s club career took him from Southampton to Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid before his move to Los Angeles.
“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’s decision comes just a month after he captained Wales at their first World Cup in 64 years.
He is Wales’ all-time leading appearance maker with 111 caps and also their leading scorer with 41 goals.
“My decision to retire from international football has been, by far the hardest of my career,” he wrote.
“My journey on the international stage is one that has changed not only my life but who I am.
“The fortune of being Welsh and being selected to play for and captain Wales, has given me something incomparable to anything else I’ve experienced.
“I am honoured 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.”
