Gareth Bale raised some eyebrows when he retired at the age of 33 following the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but it turns out there was a very good reason.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast with Gary Neville, Jill Scott, Roy Keane and Ian Wright, the former Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur revealed that he kept a back injury hidden for most of his career and that led to his retirement.
“It was manageable, but over time it caught up with me,” Bale said of a torn disc in his back incurred while at Spurs at the age of 18.
The back injury meant that the Cardiff native became susceptible to a series of calf injuries that would ravage his career.
“I had a lot of calf injuries which was due to my back,” the now 36-year-old Bale explained. “I never came out and said this when I was playing because some people would say, ‘He’s making excuses.’”
A product of the Southampton academy, Bale made his senior debut with the team in the Championship in 2006. He moved to Spurs in 2007 and would spend six seasons with the team. Bale won a League Cup with Spurs in 2008.
In 2013, Bale headed to the Bernabeu in a then-world record £85.1 million move. In eight seasons with Los Blancos, Bale won three La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey and five Champions League crowns. Perhaps his most memorable moment in a Real shirt came in the 2018 Champions League Final against Liverpool when he scored a sensational bicycle kick in a 3-1 win in Kyiv.
Bale finished his club career with a single season in Major League Soccer with Los Angeles FC, helping the team capture the 2022 MLS Cup. With the Philadelphia Union leading 3-2 in extra time on a brace from Jack Elliott, Bale scored deep into stoppage to force penalties in which LAFC emerged victorious.
Internationally, Bale was a hero for Wales, leading the team on a Cinderella run to the semis of Euro 2016. Capped 111 times after his senior debut at 16, Bale was responsible for the Dragons’ biggest moment in generations. On June 5, 2022, Bale’s free kick was deflected by Andriy Yarmolenko, giving Wales a 1-0 win over Ukraine to earn their first World Cup berth in 64 years. Bale would go on to score the team’s only goal in Qatar to earn a 1-1 draw with the United States.
In constant battle with his body, playing in the World Cup was enough for Bale to call time on his career.
“I felt like I achieved everything I wanted to,” Bale told the hosts. “The last thing I did was qualify for a World Cup, which was the one thing that was last on my list. I felt it was the right time. It was a few years prior that I was probably ready but it just caught up with me.”
Bale ended his career with 141 goals and 70 assists in 394 league appearances in four leagues across 18 seasons.
