Gareth Bale (34, LA FC) announced his retirement from active duty. Bale played one season with Son Heung-min (31) in Tottenham (England) as captain of the Wales national soccer team.
On his 10th, Bale revealed on his social media, “After careful consideration, I decided to retire right away from the club and national team.” “I am really lucky to have fulfilled my dream of playing football, the sport I love, and football has created some of the best moments of my life. The last 17 seasons were full of the best times,” he added.
A native of Wales, Bale made his professional debut in 2006 for Southampton (England). The following year he moved to Tottenham where he played until 2013. Bale emerged as a star player by scoring 21 goals in 33 matches in the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2012-2013 season. That season, he was named Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Player of the Year and Football Writers Association (FWA) Player of the Year. Bale, whose fast speed is an advantage, wore a uniform for the prestigious Spanish club Real Madrid in 2013, and the estimated transfer fee at the time was 86 million pounds (approximately 129.7 billion won), the highest transfer fee ever. Bale has lifted many trophies with Real Madrid, including three La Liga titles and five UEFA Champions League titles. However, due to frequent injuries and sluggishness, he moved the team to LA FC of the US Major League Soccer (MLS) in June of last year. 메이저사이트
Bale, wearing the Wales national soccer team uniform since 2006, scored 41 goals in 111 A-matches (national competition). It is the highest number of appearances and goals scored by the Wales national team. Bale, who led Wales to advance to the World Cup for the first time in 64 years last year, also scored a penalty kick goal against the United States at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. “The decision to retire from the national team was the hardest thing in my career,” said Bale. Bale did not say what he would do next.
Heung-Min Son, who played with Tottenham in the 2020-2021 season, also said goodbye to the news of Bale’s retirement. Son Heung-min said on his social media, “Bale is a football legend with Tottenham. Congratulations on an amazing career. Good luck in the next chapter, friend.” Bale replied, “Thank you, Sony (Son Heung-min’s nickname).”
Tottenham’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (37) also retires from the French national team. The French Football Association announced on its official website on the 9th (local time) that Lloris has decided to retire from the national team. Making his A-match debut against Uruguay in November 2008, Lloris made 145 caps for France. This is the record for the most appearances for the French national team.