Midfielder Andrés Iniesta ended his football career at the age of 40. He helped Spain to their first World Cup title with the winnin
g goal in the 2010 World Cup final and won the European Championships in 2008 and 2012. The long-time supporter of Barcelona announced his departure on social networks and officially said goodbye today at a press conference in the Catalan capital.
“I didn’t expect this day to come. I could never have imagined it. But all these tears are tears of emotion and pride, not sadness. They are the tears of a boy who dreamed of being a footballer and who, thanks to hard work, hard work and sacrifice, succeeded,” said Iniesta, who spent 16 years with Barcelona.
With the big Catalan club, in whose A jersey he made his debut in 2002, he won four trophies in the Champions League and celebrated the Spanish title nine times. He played a total of 674 matches for Barcelona. In 2018, he went to Japan, where he played for Vissel Kobe, and last year he headed to Saudi Arabia at the end of his career.
Former coaches Pep Guardiola, Vicente del Bosque and Louis van Gaal, among others, paid him farewell via video message . Former teammates also joined in on social networks. “One of the most magical teammates and one of the ones I liked playing with the most,” wrote Lionel Messi, who spent the most successful years with Iniesta at Barcelona. “Ball will miss you and so will we all. I wish you nothing but the best, you are a phenomenon,” he added.
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