2026-03-07 10:32:10
Gareth Bale played much of his career with a secret back injury.
The Welsh winger retired from the game aged just 33 shortly after representing his country at the 2022 World Cup and explained that an injury sustained as a teenager at Tottenham was a factor in his decision to hang up his boots.
Bale told The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast: “I tore my disc in my back when I was 18 at Tottenham. I played my whole career with that.
“I had a lot of calf injuries which was due to my back. I never came out and said this when I was playing because some people would say, ‘He’s making excuses.’
“It was manageable but over time it caught up with me.”
Bale admits that the problem hung over his spell at Real Madrid, where he helped the La Liga side claim five Champions League titles.
He said: “I never knew when it would come and obviously people were like, ‘Oh, he doesn’t look after himself’, (but) I would literally make sure my calves and soleus were bulletproof.
“But again, if it misfires and goes, there’s nothing I could do about it. I’d have an injection in my back to calm it all down.”
Bale is one of Britain’s most successful players and explained that he decided to retire at a relatively early age as he felt that he had achieved all he could in the game.
He said: “I always got to a point where I guess a lot of people do in their career, do you keep going for what reason? What else do I want to achieve?
“I felt like I achieved everything I wanted to. 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.”
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