Gareth Bale has brought an end to an illustrious playing career after announcing his retirement at the age of 33.
The forward hangs up his boots with a record of 226 goals in 664 games from spells with Southampton, Tottenham, Real Madrid, Los Angeles FC and on the international stage with Wales.
Initially a left-back, Bale was utilised further forward by Harry Redknapp at Spurs which sparked the start of an incredible transformation of the player – who would go on to make a significant impression at both club and international level.
Here, we've taken a look back at some of the finest moments from Bale's career.
San Siro statement
On October 20, 2010, Bale gave Tottenham fans memories to last a lifetime with a stunning hat-trick in a Champions League group stage fixture against Inter at San Siro in a year that marked Spurs' first-ever involvement in the competition.
Four goals down at half-time and down to 10 men, Bale enjoyed a meteoric display in the second period that, despite Spurs losing 4-3, still stands as one of the greatest individual performances in the competition's history.
A hat-trick saw the then 21-year-old display his raw pace and strength, tormenting opposing players Maicon and Javier Zanetti, propelling him into stardom and setting the path for a remarkable career.
World record transfer & Copa del Rey Clasico
A six-year spell in north London came to a close in 2013, when Real Madrid splashed a then world record fee of €100.8 million (£85.1m), a figure that surpassed the previous record set by Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Santiago Bernabeu from Manchester United.
Scoring on his debut against Villarreal, the first half of Bale's inaugural season in Spain was plagued by injuries and came alongside some media criticism – something that he would have to endure throughout the majority of his spell with Los Blancos.
A starring moment came in the 2014 Copa del Rey final against Barcelona, however, outsprinting Marc Barta and even exiting the field on his way to goal before tucking home his first El Clasico strike.
Champions League glories
Just over a month after scoring in the Copa del Rey final, Bale was at it again in the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid – putting his team ahead in the 110th minute of an eventual 4-1 victory to seal Madrid's 10th European Cup, the fabled La Decima.
In 2015-16, Bale won the Champions League for a second time, Atletico on the receiving end yet again, retaining the trophy the following season against Juventus in his home city of Cardiff, and winning a third in a row in 2017-18, where Bale added to his incredible highlight reel.
Against Liverpool in Kyiv, Bale scored an overhead kick from the edge of the 18-yard box to give Madrid a 2-1 advantage, then doubling his tally for the game with a speculative 30-yard effort that goalkeeper Loris Karius fumbled into the net.
Euro semi-finalists
While criticism at club level with Madrid was rife, Bale continued to be the leading man on the international stage for Wales and excelled for his nation at Euro 2016, the first time they had featured at the tournament.
Bale scored in all three of Wales' group-stage matches against Slovakia, England and Russia as Chris Coleman's side topped the group, with victories against Northern Ireland and Belgium to follow in the knockout stage.
An incredible tournament came to a close in the semi-finals with a 2-0 defeat to eventual champions Portugal but Wales returned five years later at the rearranged Euro 2020, where they reached the last 16.
MLS Cup victory
Bale's Madrid career ended in June 2022, fresh from picking up a fifth Champions League victory, as he completed a move to Major League Soccer to join Los Angeles FC.
LAFC won the Supporter's Shield in the regular season, though Bale was mostly unused, but he made his impact in the MLS Cup as his side won the title for the first time, having joined the league in 2017.
Bale came off the bench to score in the 128th minute against Philadelphia Union, sending the contest to a penalty shoot-out that LAFC subsequently won.
World Cup
After a 64-year absence, Wales returned to the World Cup stage after qualifying for the 2022 tournament in Qatar – which would prove to be Bale's last involvement as a player for either club or country.
An 82nd-minute penalty against the United States saw Bale score on his tournament debut as Wales begun the group stage with a point, but two stoppage-time goals in the second game gave Iran a shock victory.
Wales' campaign came to an early end with a 3-0 defeat to England in the final group match, marking a disappointing end to Bale's international career.
Injury forces Militao out of Brazil's World Cup qualifiers
Eder Militao will miss Brazil's upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Peru due to a thigh injury.
The defender, who also missed September's fixtures due to a leg injury, first felt some discomfort against Atletico Madrid on September 29.
Though he has featured for Real Madrid since, he flew out to Sao Paulo to undergo checks on the issue, where the national team confirmed the extent of the injury.
"[Militao] underwent tests this Sunday... which revealed a minor muscle injury in his left thigh that will prevent him from playing," the CBF said in a statement.
He is the second Madrid player to pull out of the Brazil squad, with Vinicius Junior also unfit to play after suffering a neck injury.
Brazil sit fifth in South America's qualification table after eight matches, with 10 points.
Hurzeler lauds Brighton comeback after finding missing confidence
Fabian Hurzeler insisted Brighton will always have setbacks as the German revelled in his side finding their "missing" confidence after Sunday's comeback victory over Tottenham.
Brighton were outclassed in the first half at the Amex Stadium as Brennan Johnson and James Maddison sent Spurs deservedly leading 2-0 into half-time.
Hurzeler's high line was once again punished at will by the visitors in that opening period, though Yankuba Minteh's blasted finish shortly after the break offered the home side hope.
Georginio Rutter swiftly followed Minteh's strike up with a fine goal of his own, before the former Leeds United man played a key part in the winner as his deflected cross found Danny Welbeck.
Questions appeared to be mounting on Hurzeler after a four-game winless run, though the 31-year-old silenced some of those doubts with this 3-2 comeback triumph.
"In the process, it is normal to have bad performances as the process is not linear, it's up-and-down, you have to accept these downs," the Brighton boss told Sky Sports after the game.
"You have to focus on your own quality and that is what I said to the team: focus on the process. That is how you react to bad performances."
When pressed on the confidence lacking in his team after their recent struggles, he added: "I think a little bit was missing. Being ruthless is the most important.
"In the duels we were not ruthless and if you win the personal duels and get the ball into the opponent's half you get self-confidence, that was the biggest change.
"I always say 'we have enough quality to always score' [but] it is always important to learn from the first half."
Rutter has now scored in back-to-back Premier League appearances, also netting against Chelsea, having failed to score in any of his first 15 outings in the competition across his spell with Leeds and now Brighton.
His individual exploits proved the difference in the second half, though the Frenchman insisted Brighton's comeback was more about battling than tactics.
"We are happy and stayed together like the coach said 'we have to believe'. That is what we do. We have three points so we're happy," Rutter said.
"What we said at half-time was 'it's not about tactics, it's about fighting'."
Welbeck scored his 27th Premier League goal for Brighton here, too, though it was just his second winning goal for the Seagulls, also netting what proved to be the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Leicester City in September 2021.
The veteran attacker, who could have scored another in the first half from Kauro Mitoma's cross, echoed a similar sentiment to Rutter.
"In the first half we were bitterly disappointed and frustrated, the performance we put in was embarrassing," Welbeck said. "Nothing we want to be part of, but we showed our character.
"The attitude was right in the second half we came out and fought. We have got to give credit to the senior boys who are not on the pitch the likes, of Steely [Jason Steele] and Milner [James Milner], they told us the bare minimum is we've got to fight. Everyone is together in this.
"We want to be challenging the establishment like the management touched upon."
Postecoglou blasts 'worst defeat' of his tenure after Spurs collapse
A fuming Ange Postecoglou brandished Tottenham's collapse against Brighton as the nadir of his Premier League tenure after Sunday's 3-2 defeat.
Brennan Johnson's well-taken opener marked his sixth goal in as many games across all competitions before James Maddison's first-half finish had Spurs leading 2-0 at the break on the south coast.
However, Fabian Hurzeler's hosts managed a remarkable turnaround as Georginio Rutter levelled after Yankuba Minteh's strike, before Danny Welbeck completed a remarkable turnaround just past the hour.
It was just the second time that Tottenham lost a Premier League game they led by two goals in their last 166 such matches (W159 D5), and Postecoglou fumed at the full-time whistle.
The Tottenham manager said on Sky Sports: "Disappointing, frustrated and absolutely gutted with that. It's the worst defeat since I've been here.
"Unacceptable second half, and nowhere near where we should be. We got carried away with how we were going.
"We kind of accepted our fate [in the second half] and it is hard to understand as we've not done that while I've been here. We paid the price.
"The problem is we are travelling along too smoothly, football and life will trip you up if you get too far ahead of yourself."
Sunday also marked the 10th time that Tottenham have lost a Premier League game in which they led by two or more goals, becoming the first club to hit double figures for this unwanted record.
Though their second-half collapse may have some fans lamenting a typical Spurs performance, Postecoglou insists finding a solution remains solely on his shoulders.
"There is no message," the Australian said when asked what he would tell his players. "It is a terrible loss for us, as bad as it gets. There is only one way to fix it and that's my responsibility.
"We lost all our duels and if you're not competitive it is not going to work; we were not competitive.
"They all go on international duty the majority of them, they will process it individually and I will process it when everyone gets back."
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