Ronaldinho has paid tribute to former teammate Andres Iniesta following the Barcelona legend’s retirement announcement this week.
Iniesta helped define an era at Barcelona, combining with fellow La Masia graduates Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi to put the club at the pinnacle of world football.
He made 674 appearances, winning 29 trophies. As captain, the midfielder left Camp Nou in 2018 and finished his career with five years in Japan at Vissel Kobe and a final season at Emirates in the UAE Pro League taking him to his 40th birthday in May.
The start of Iniesta’s career coincided with Ronaldinho’s time at Barcelona. The Brazilian arrived from Paris Saint-Germain in 2003 and remained for five years. Iniesta had made his first-team debut in 2002 but became an important player from the 2004/05 campaign onwards.
It was off the back of that season that Ronaldinho won the Ballon d’Or, while Barcelona then went on to win the Champions League the following year.
“We will miss your quality and elegance in the field,” Ronaldinho posted in a touching Instagram tribute. “It was a pleasure playing with you! Hope to see you soon, brother.”
Having hung up his boots, Iniesta has already revealed ambitions to become a coach.
“I can’t stay away from football, it’s my life and will continue to be my life. Now I need to continue educating myself, I’m in the process of doing my coaching diploma and that’s the next step. I will try to come back and do a great job. However, it won’t be running after the ball,” he said.
Barcelona have a history of recruiting former players in coaching roles, as well as other senior positions behind the scenes. Pep Guardiola is perhaps the most famous example in modern times, but the likes of Luis Enrique, Xavi, Ronald Koeman and the late Johan Cruyff all became legends as players before taking up managerial duties on the bench.
