Welsh football player Gareth Bale announced he had decided to retire from football at the age of 33.

Bale said, in a statement published Monday on Instagram, that the decision to retire has been “by far the hardest of my career.”

“I am honoured and humbled to have been able to play a part in the history of this incredible country, to have felt the support and passion of the red wall, and together have been to unexpected and amazing places,” Bale wrote.

Bale, who played as a winger, is widely regarded as one of the greatest Welsh players in history and the one of the best wingers of his generation; winning three LaLiga titles, the Champions League on five occasions and the Club World Cup three times.

The last game Bale played was when Wales were knocked out of the group stage of Qatar World Cup as they lost 3-0 to England.

“So for now I am stepping back, but not away from the team that lives in me and runs through my veins. After all, the dragon on my shirt is all I need,” he lastly wrote.