Andrés Iniesta announced his departure from top-level football on April 27, 2018, in front of a room full of journalists and colleagues moved to tears. “Don Andrés” was preparing to leave FC Barcelona, his lifelong club, although he had not yet really hung up his boots. For six years, the Spaniard continued to practice, in a more modest way, in Japan (2018-2023) and then in the United Arab Emirates (2023-2024). Then, on Monday, October 7, he ended his playing career.
Iniesta has been without a club since leaving the Gulf in July. At 40 years old, after years of allowing football lovers to benefit from his unique vision of the game, his delicious passes and his ability to escape opposing pressures, the midfielder is retiring. “The game continues”However, it is the title of the video in which the former Blaugrana announces his retirement from the sport.
In fact, his “leg” He will live for a long time, etched in the retinas of all football observers, and also in the hearts of Barcelona fans. In Catalonia, Iniesta has experienced everything and won everything. “My style of play was built and grew at the same time as that of FC Barcelona. This is the one I like the most. We try to play with the ball, multiply our passes, combine and unite all our teammates. I hope I can continue transmitting this style of play well”he told the Worldin October 2012.
He arrived in 1996, at the age of 12, at La Masia – Barça’s training center –, Iniesta took his classes and adapted to the Blaugrana mold, which puts the game at the center of concerns, more than the physical, which has never been the case. been. his strong point (1.71 m). However, he retained his touch, his instinct, which allowed him to stand out and discover the professional world on December 21, 2002, at the age of 18, under the orders of the Dutchman Louis van Gaal.
After a first Champions League title with Frank Rijkaard in 2006, Iniesta stood out especially in Pep Guardiola’s team (2008-2012), and formed an unforgettable and sublime trio of masters in midfield, with Sergio Busquets and Xavi . Barça at that time was unstoppable and won thirteen titles, lifting the “big-eared cup” twice. Don Andrés is at the center of this insolent success.
“Iniesta, world heritage site”
The Spanish midfielder will add many other trophies to his record with Barça, including a fourth and final Champions League, in 2015, won with Luis Enrique as coach. “Iniesta is not only the heritage of FC Barcelona, of all culés” [les supporteurs du Barça]It is a world heritage site. We are lucky to have a unique player, who has his eyes in the back of his head, always at the service of the team”raved the current Paris Saint-Germain coach in 2016.
In the national team, Iniesta debuted late, for the level of player he was, at the age of 22 in 2006. Here, too, he is one of the key elements of the Red dynasty, which devastated everything in its path between 2008 and 2012, winning two European Championships. and a World Cup. During the World Cup final against Holland, on July 11, 2010 in Johannesburg (South Africa), where the two teams exchanged more tackles than passes, it was he who once again put the match at the center of the debates, with a half-volley that puts the Spanish team in extra time.
“A very good ending to what was the worst season of my career. “I had a bad year.”Iniesta will explain The teama few months later. Physically injured, the player also fell into a depression some time after the death of his great friend Dani Jarque, Espanyol Barcelona player, after cardiac arrest in the summer of 2009.
In the top 4 of the Ballon d’Or each year, between 2009 and 2012, Iniesta was very close to winning in 2010. But the votes to nominate a Spaniard were shared between him and Xavi, and his teammate at Barça, doing business . of the Argentine Lionel Messi. “If Iniesta had been called Andrezinho, he would have had two Ballon d’Ors”said Sergio Ramos, who was his great rival at Real Madrid and his teammate in the national team.
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The group came first and foremost for Iniesta and, without resentment, that did not stop him from continuing to distribute the caviar to the flea. “One of the most magical teammates and the ones I most enjoyed playing with. Football will miss you and all of us will miss you too. I wish you the best, you are a phenomenon”wrote Lionel Messi, upon learning of the end of his former teammate’s career. A tribute, from the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, worthy of the player’s career.
