CONTRARY to the opinion of those Real Madrid fans who believe he hung up his boots several seasons ago, Gareth Bale actually announced his retirement from football today.

His commitment to Wales, unlike the Spanish moneybags side, was never in doubt: Bale was Wales’s most-capped men’s player with 111 appearances, many times making a humdrum side into world-beaters.

The stylish and hard-working former Southampton, Spurs and Real forward made his final competitive appearance during Wales’s World Cup group stage fixture with England on November 29.

Speculation over the 33-year-old’s future has constantly been debated in recent seasons with his playing time at club level limited and his time on the golf course growing, but his importance to Wales has never waned and he fired them to a first World Cup since 1958 with a deflected winner against Ukraine last summer.

He left Real Madrid not long after to sign for US outfit Los Angeles FC and scored in his final club outing in November to help them win the MLS Cup. 

It was the 17th trophy won by Bale during a glittering career and provided him with momentum ahead of Wales’s historic return to the world stage this winter.

Bale scored from the penalty spot in his country’s 1-1 draw with the United States, but defeats to Iran and England saw Wales bow out in the group stage in Qatar.

While the five-time Champions League winner insisted at the time that he may carry on, the Cardiff-born attacker has now decided to hang up his boots.

Bale first made his mark after progressing through Southampton’s academy and marked his early appearances as a 16-year-old with a free-kick goal against Derby that would become his trademark.

A move to Tottenham in 2007 followed and after a tricky start in London, the Welshman firmly caught the attention of the football world with a string of dazzling displays at White Hart Lane, most notably in the Champions League during the 2010-11 campaign.

Real Madrid came calling and a then-world record fee of £85.1 million saw him swap the Premier League for La Liga.

Bale would spend nine years at the Bernabeu and even though his time in the Spanish capital was full of ups and downs, he would depart after becoming the most decorated British player to grace foreign shores.

The attacker was central to four of the five Champions League titles won by Madrid during his spell and memorably scored a wondergoal in the triumph over Liverpool in 2018.