Andres Iniesta, a Barcelona and Spain great, has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 40.
The famous midfielder is now playing for Emirates Club in the UAE. He spent the previous five years in Japan with Vissel Kobe, having left Camp Nou in 2018.
Iniesta, who graduated from Barcelona’s prestigious La Masia program with Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Sergio Busquets, made 674 appearances for the Blaugrana. He helped them win nine La Liga titles and four Champions League championships.
With Spain, Iniesta’s 131 caps saw him win two European Championships and the World Cup in 2010 – with a dramatic extra-time goal famously netted against the Netherlands in the final of that competition. The evergreen playmaker has now decided to call it quits, confirming his decision at an emotional press conference in Barcelona on Tuesday.
Iniesta said at his farewell ceremony in La Mancha: “I never thought this day would come, but all these tears these days are tears of emotion, of pride. They are not of sadness. They are tears of that child from Fuentealbilla who had the dream of being a footballer. And I achieved it, we achieved it. With a lot of sacrifice and a lot of effort. And never giving up. Essential values in my life. I feel very proud of that path. I feel very happy to achieve the prize, the dream, of being a footballer.”
He added on his time at Barcelona: “For me, coming to Barça was a dream and I focused on fulfilling it. I couldn’t divert my focus from what I wanted and getting to the best possible place to achieve all the dreams I had ahead of me.”
There had been talk of the former Barca star being reunited with Messi and Busquets at Inter Miami not that long ago, but no move to MLS will be made. Instead, Iniesta is focused on working his way into coaching.
He has never shied away from the fact that he would like to see his career path lead back to Catalunya. Iniesta has previously stated: “Obviously I would like to return to Barca at some point in my life, because that’s how I feel, but I don’t know when or how to say now, nor does anyone else. We’ll see how things go during this time and then we’ll see where we are.”
