On Monday, Andres Iniesta announced on social media that he is retiring from football. The midfield genius, who was most recently at UAE side Emirates Club, brings down the curtain on his wonderful 22-year career with immediate effect.
El Juego Continúa ❤️⚽️ 8️⃣🔟2️⃣4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/YLrDOfxVCB
— Andrés Iniesta (@andresiniesta8) October 7, 2024
During his time at Barcelona, Iniesta won 29 trophies: seven La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues, six Copa del Reys, three Club World Cups, two UEFA Super Cups and five Spanish Super Cups. Of course, he also won the World Cup once and the European Championship twice – most notably, he scored the winning goal in the former’s final against The Netherlands.
Many have paid tribute to Iniesta, and this has included his former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi, who posted a heartfelt tribute on Instagram (via MD).
“One of the teammates with the most magic and the ones I enjoy playing together the most. Andres, the ball is going to miss you and so are all of us. I wish you the best always, a phenomenon.”
Ig story Messi. pic.twitter.com/DjLyMkgai0
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) October 8, 2024
It remains to be seen what Iniesta does post-playing career. A return to Barcelona in some capacity could be possible. For the immediate future, he will announce on Tuesday that he is launching a documentary – Joan Laporta is to be one of those in attendance at the press conference.
