Barcelona and Spain legend Andres Iniesta has announced his retirement from professional football, having most recently turned out for United Arab Emirates side Emirates Club.
His glittering senior career spanned over 20 years and saw him lift the World Cup, two European Championships, four Champions League trophies, nine La Liga titles and, quite frankly, more silverware than one sentence can handle.
FourFourTwo last caught up with the midfield wizard in 2020, while he was with Japanese side Vissel Kobe, a team he played for from 2018 until 2023 following his history-making spell as one of Barcelona’s most important players.
Iniesta was key in this century’s most successful national side to date (Image credit: Getty Images)
Alongside the likes of Lionel Messi and Xavi, Iniesta was one of the key names in Barcelona’s 2009-2011 side under Pep Guardiola, widely regarded to be one of the best teams in modern football.
Speaking of that time to FFT in 2020, Iniesta said: “Your confidence is so high, you enjoy going into training every day. We had powerful players, a powerful manager and professional staff — they were all marvellous years.”
There have been few midfields as formidable as Barca’s during Iniesta’s time with the club (Image credit: Getty Images) (Image credit: Getty Images)
It was in this period that Spain took the clean sweep of major honours from 2008 through to 2012, not entirely uninfluenced by the success of that Barca side. In South Africa in 2010, Iniesta overcame not only his opponents on the pitch, but also his own personal demons, battling depression around the time of the tournament before going on to net Spain’s extra-time winner to deliver their first-ever World Cup.
“You never know why, but I did feel bad,” the Spaniard told FFT. “Uneasy. Doubtful. Vulnerable. I didn’t feel right in my life. I really needed to recharge my batteries in that period.
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“I was fortunate to have a good family around me, too — and football. That’s a way to relax the mind and enjoy. Slowly I began to feel better again.”
Aside from the Ballon d’Or — an award where he placed second and third in 2010 and 2012 respectively, behind Barca team-mate Messi — there is precious little else the genius creator could have hoped to achieve. He will without question go down as one of the game’s all-time greats.
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FFT believes that, having completed football as a player, the next natural goal for Iniesta must be to climb to the same heights as a manager, much like his idol Guardiola did.
“I’ve said I intend to play until I’m 40 if my body allows it,” the midfielder told us four years ago, presciently. “But I think I would like to be a coach when I retire.
“If I can’t be on the grass, then I want to be close to it.”
