1. Gareth Frank Bale was born on 16 July 1989 and is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a right winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, and the Wales national team.
86 Facts About Gareth Bale
1. 2.
Gareth Bale is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation and the greatest Welsh player of all time.
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Gareth Bale began his professional career at Southampton, playing as a left-back before moving to Tottenham in 2007.
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Gareth Bale received several individual awards in England, including two PFA Players' Player of the Year awards and three PFA Team of the Year inclusions.
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Gareth Bale had multiple Ballon D'Or nominations, with five top 20 finishes and even finishing 6th place in 2016.
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Gareth Bale scored what is widely regarded as the greatest goal in a Champions League final, a bicycle kick in Real Madrid's win of the 2018 Champions League final.
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Gareth Bale was awarded the FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball in 2018.
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Gareth Bale joined MLS club Los Angeles FC in July 2022 before retiring in January 2023, aged 33.
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Gareth Bale made his international debut for Wales in May 2006.
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Gareth Bale had 111 caps for the nation and scored 41 goals, making him Wales' most capped player and top goalscorer of all time.
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Gareth Bale was the top goalscorer for Wales in the qualifying rounds for UEFA Euro 2016, scoring seven times; he played every match for Wales in the actual tournament and led Wales to the semi-finals, scoring three goals.
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Gareth Bale played in Euro 2020 and helped Wales qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, ending a 64-year appearance drought at the World Cup for Wales.
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Gareth Bale was named Welsh Footballer of the Year a record six times.
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Gareth Bale was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Frank, a school caretaker, and Debbie Gareth Bale, an operations manager.
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Gareth Bale is the nephew of former Cardiff City footballer Chris Pike.
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Gareth Bale was a keen athlete; he played football alongside future Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton, rugby, hockey and excelled at athletics.
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Gareth Bale left school in the summer of 2005 with a Grade A in PE amongst his other GCSE results.
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Gareth Bale is one of the most unselfish individuals that I have had the pleasure to help educate.
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Gareth Bale further developed his reputation as a threat on free kicks when he struck the post from one against West Bromwich Albion.
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Gareth Bale suffered an injury during the second half, preventing him from appearing in the second leg.
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Gareth Bale played his first game for Spurs in a friendly against St Patrick's Athletic on 12 July 2007, but was substituted on the 80th minute with a minor dead leg.
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Gareth Bale went on to score against Arsenal in the North London derby from a free kick.
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Gareth Bale then scored in the League Cup home tie against Middlesbrough.
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On 2 December 2007, Gareth Bale was substituted after sustaining an injury resulting from a tackle from Fabrice Muamba in the league fixture against Birmingham City.
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Gareth Bale is obviously disappointed to be sidelined for this length of time but he is still young and we have to do what is best for him in the long run.
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Gareth Bale returned to fitness in August 2008, the same month he signed a new four-year deal with the club, and went on to make 30 appearances for Tottenham in all competitions that season.
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In June 2009, Gareth Bale underwent surgery for a knee injury, ruling him out for over two months.
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Gareth Bale was named Premier League Player of the Month for April 2010.
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On 5 January 2012, Gareth Bale was one of the players voted into the 2011 UEFA Team of the Year.
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On 27 June, Gareth Bale signed a new four-year contract, committing his future to the club until 2016.
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Gareth Bale's run of good form in the early months of 2013 saw him win Premier League Player of the Month for February as well as the BBC Goal of the Month in both January and February for his strikes against Norwich City and West Ham United respectively.
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On his return from injury, Gareth Bale scored a goal and assisted Clint Dempsey as Tottenham beat Manchester City at White Hart Lane.
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On 1 September 2013, Spanish club Real Madrid announced that they had reached an agreement for the transfer of Gareth Bale, signing a six-year deal in a then world record deal.
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The first half of Gareth Bale's season was plagued by injuries; of Real's first 16 games after his signing, Gareth Bale missed five and was substituted on or off in six others, playing only five full games.
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Gareth Bale scored on his Real Madrid debut, a goal coming in the 38th minute against Villarreal, before being substituted later in the game for Angel Di Maria.
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On 16 April, Gareth Bale scored the winning goal for Real Madrid with five minutes remaining in the 2014 Copa del Rey Final against rivals Barcelona.
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Gareth Bale finished his debut season with 22 goals and 16 assists in all competitions.
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Gareth Bale was defended by Carlo Ancelotti over this plus difficulties at the end of the season.
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Gareth Bale scored twice in Real's win over Real Betis in September 2015.
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Gareth Bale assisted the team's only goal and went on to score in the penalty shoot-out win over Atletico Madrid in the final.
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On 30 October 2016, Gareth Bale signed a new contract with Madrid until 2022.
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Gareth Bale featured in Real Madrid's victories in both the 2017 UEFA Super Cup and the 2017 Supercopa de Espana, and he featured in the club's victorious 2017 FIFA Club World Cup campaign, winning a third trophy before 2018 had even begun.
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Gareth Bale became the first substitute to score twice in a Champions League final and was named man of the match.
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Gareth Bale became the third player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA Club World Cup match after Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez.
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Gareth Bale became the third player to score in three editions of the competition after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
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In October 2019, Gareth Bale was said to be "angry" at Real Madrid and wanted to leave, but later that month Zidane said Gareth Bale had never asked to leave.
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On 19 September 2020, Gareth Bale returned to Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan.
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Gareth Bale made 12 total appearances in the regular season for LAFC, starting two matches, but remained mostly unused as the club won the Supporters' Shield.
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Gareth Bale's goal was the latest goal in MLS history.
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On 9 January 2023, following the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Gareth Bale announced his retirement from professional football.
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At 16 years and 315 days old, Gareth Bale became the youngest player to play for Wales, breaking a record held by Lewin Nyatanga who set that three months earlier; this record was itself superseded by Harry Wilson in October 2013.
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Wales youth guru Brian Flynn commented that Gareth Bale was potentially a future star of the game, comparing his technical ability to that of Ryan Giggs.
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On 7 October 2006, Gareth Bale became the youngest ever goalscorer for the senior national team, scoring a free kick in a Euro 2008 qualification match against Slovakia.
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In December 2010, Gareth Bale was awarded the BBC Cymru Sports Personality of the Year trophy.
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Gareth Bale won his 100th Wales Cap during a World Cup Qualifying Match on 13 November 2021 against Belarus at the Cardiff City Stadium where he played 45 minutes being substituted at half time.
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Gareth Bale's goal saw him become the first Welsh player to score at a major international tournament since Terry Medwin's goal against Hungary at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.
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On 22 March 2018, with 29 goals, Gareth Bale became Wales' all-time top-scorer surpassing Ian Rush's 28, thanks to his first hat-trick in his international career in a 2018 China Cup match against China.
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In November 2022, Gareth Bale was named in the Wales squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
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Gareth Bale, who met the age criteria to play in the 2012 London Olympics, said in May 2011 "I want to play in the Olympics" for the Great Britain Olympic football team, in defiance of the FAW.
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On 28 October 2011, Gareth Bale became the first player to be photographed modelling the British 2012 London Olympics football supporters' shirt.
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Gareth Bale can make his own choices and make his own decisions.
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In view of the short recovery time between the end of the Olympics and the start of the Premier League season, Gareth Bale had decided to withdraw rather than exacerbate the problem.
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Between these matches, Gareth Bale played against Liverpool when he was injured in a tackle by Charlie Adam.
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Spurs' manager, Andre Villas-Boas, defended the player insisting that Gareth Bale "had recovered quicker than expected".
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Gareth Bale was not selected on the basis of this injury and the inability to predict recovery time.
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At the beginning of his career, Gareth Bale played as a left-back.
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When Gareth Bale moved to Tottenham, his coach Harry Redknapp played him as a left winger, where he developed into a world-class player.
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Gareth Bale was predominantly known for his pace, acceleration, shooting and heading.
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Gareth Bale was a free-kick specialist and used the "knuckleball" technique.
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Gareth Bale has been described as a footballer with "tremendous speed, great crossing ability, a great left foot and exceptional physical qualities".
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Gareth Bale is one of the quickest players I've ever seen, but he has another gear and the ability to find that extra pace within the next stride.
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Gareth Bale has the ability to perform and use his technique at great pace.
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Gareth Bale is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation and the greatest Welsh player of all time.
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Gareth Bale was accused of diving by some in the British media; however, this was denied by Gareth Bale, Harry Redknapp, and Wales coach Chris Coleman.
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However, Gareth Bale became less popular with Madrid's fans during his final seasons with the club due to his lack of commitment.
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On 17 July 2016, Gareth Bale announced his engagement with Rhys-Jones.
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On 9 March 2018, Gareth Bale announced that he and his fiancee were expecting their third child.
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Gareth Bale was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 Birthday Honours for his contributions to association football and various charities.
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Gareth Bale is not a fluent Welsh speaker, only knowing simple Welsh phrases.
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On 26 March 2013, Gareth Bale filed an application with the Intellectual Property Office to create a logo based on his heart-shaped goal celebration along with his squad number to be used on merchandise.
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Gareth Bale was featured in EA Sports' FIFA video game series and he appeared on the British, Irish and Middle Eastern covers of FIFA 14 alongside Lionel Messi.
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Gareth Bale has partnerships with companies such as Adidas, EA Sports, Lucozade and BT Sport.
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In 2014, Gareth Bale was the first player to wear the Adidas F50 crazylight football boots.
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In November 2014, Gareth Bale appeared in FIFA's "11 against Ebola" campaign along with other football legends like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Xavi, and Didier Drogba.
85.
El Confidencial cited golf as the reason why Gareth Bale spent so much time out injured, claiming it worsened his back problems.
86.
Gareth Bale was interviewed in Episode 179 of The Erik Anders Lang Show podcast, in which he said his golf handicap was "between a three and a four".