Barcelona and Spain legend Andres Iniesta will retire from the game at the age of 40. The veteran midfielder has been a free agent for several months after leaving his latest club Emirates FC Club, and has decided to draw his career to an end.
Iniesta is one of if not the most beloved of Spain’s footballers, having scored the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final, the only goal of the game, four minutes from the end of extra time to secure a first ever World title for La Roja. He was also key in their victories at Euro 2008 and 2012. He finished with 131 caps and 14 goals for Spain, fifth on their all-time list of most-capped players behind only Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, Sergio Busquets and Xavi Hernandez.
Not many Barcelona players have either the medals nor the affection possessed by Iniesta either. Moving to the club as a child from Albacete in the South of Spain, he came through the La Masia system, and became a first-team regular in his mid-twenties. From the arrival of Pep Guardiola onwards, he became era-defining.
An essential part of both of Barcelona’s treble-winning sides in 2009 and 2015. In total he collected four Champions League medals, nine Liga titles, six Copas del Rey, three Club World Cups, and ten Supercups between the European (3) and Spanish (7). He would make 674 appearances in total for Barcelona, scoring 57 times and assisting on 135 occasions, between his debut in 2002 and his exit in 2018.
Iniesta would then spend five years at Vissel Kobe in Japan, playing 134 games and contributing 26 goals and 25 assists, before moving to Dubai last year, where he added another five goals and an assist in his 23 appearances. His final career statistics are 1,016 games played, 107 goals scored and 191 assists.
Starting his career at times on the left wing, and gradually asserting himself as a controlling central midfielder or ‘interior’, Iniesta always stood out for his ability to beat a man with his footwork despite not being blessed with much pace. He did have a silken touch, and a habit for appearing in the moments of most need, as defined by his World Cup-winning goal, and the ‘Iniestazo’ – his last-minute screamer for the Blaugrana in the 2009 Champions League semi-finals against Chelsea.
Iniesta battled injuries and his mental health for a period too, overcoming those trials to lift the World Cup, and ended his career as one of the few players likely to receive applause from opposition crowds in Spain. He released a video featuring the headline ‘Welcome to my future’ being written in graffiti by Barcelona-based artist TVBoy, who referencing the 8th of October. Relevo say that he will have a farewell event in the Catalan capital next Tuesday.
In the past, Iniesta has spoken about returning to Barcelona, and potentially being involved in either the sporting management area, or as a coach, although it is not yet clear what he will be doing down the line.