Andrés Iniesta confirms football retirement aged 40 and sets sights on coaching career
The former Barcelona midfielder, who won the World Cup and two European Championships with Spain, has called an end to a magical playing career.
Football
Spanish football legend Andrés Iniesta has announced his retirement at the age of 40.
The 2010 World Cup winner confirmed that he was hanging up his boots on Tuesday, 8 October, a date chosen as a nod to the number eight shirt that the midfielder donned throughout a career spanning over 22 years.
Iniesta added that he is now undertaking a coaching course as he moves his focus to management.
Speaking at a press conference in Barcelona, Iniesta said in Spanish, “I never thought this day would come, but these are tears of excitement and pride, not of sadness. These are tears of the kid from Fuentealbilla who dreamed of being a footballer, and I did it; we did it. I feel very proud of this journey.”
Born in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, Iniesta joined Barcelona aged 12 and went on to become one of the Catalan club’s greatest ever players. Making his first team debut as an 18-year-old, the midfielder made 674 appearances in which he won 32 titles.
In 2009, Iniesta scored a stoppage time equaliser for FC Barcelona against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg, sending them through on away goals en route to his second and Barça’s third Champions League title.
Iniesta’s crowning moment with the national team came in South Africa when he scored the winner in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final, a 116th minute strike to secure Spain’s first ever World Cup title over the Netherlands.
Equally memorable to his finish was the subsequent celebration, where Iniesta ripped his shirt off to reveal a message in tribute to Dani Jarque, the RCD Espanyol captain and a close friend of Iniesta’s who had passed away 11 months earlier.
Iniesta was a key cog of Spain’s golden generation, winning two European Championships in addition to the World Cup triumph. His 131 appearances for La Roja make Iniesta the fifth most-capped man in the history of the Spanish men's national team.
The Spaniard spent the last few years of his career away from Europe, making over 100 appearances for Japanese side Vissel Kobe before playing the final season of his professional career in the United Arab Emirates with Emirates Club.