Andres Iniesta set to retire from professional football

Iniesta won 32 trophies with Barcelona, including nine La Liga's, four Champions Leagues and six Copa del Rey. His final career statistics are 1016 games played, 107 goals scored and 191 assists.

Sreejith CR

First Published Oct 1, 2024, 4:16 PM IST | Last Updated Oct 1, 2024, 4:16 PM IST

Spain and Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta is set to retire from professional football at the age of 40. The 2010 World Cup winner has been a free agent for several months after leaving his latest club Emirates FC, and had decided to draw his career to an end. The veteran midfielder will formally announce his decision in a ceremony on October 8.

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Iniesta graduated from Barcelona's famous academy, La Masia, and went on to become an integral part for both club and country. The midfielder played 674 matches for Blaugrana, scoring 57 goals and recording 135 assists. He, along with Xavi and Sergio Busquets formed the iconic midfield trio that dominated world football between almost half a decade.

Iniesta won 32 trophies with Barcelona, including nine La Liga's, four Champions Leagues and six Copa del Rey. He was an integral part of Pep Guardiola's Barca which dominated club football between 2009 and 2012. Iniesta departed Blaugrana in the summer of 2018 and signed for Japanese club Vissel Kobe.

He spent five seasons in Japan, playing 134 games, scoring 26 goals and providing 25 assists. The midfield maestro won three titles with Vissel Kobe, lifting the Japanese Cup (2019), Japanese Super Cup (2010) and the J-League championship is his final season (2022-23) with the club. His final career statistics are 1016 games played, 107 goals scored and 191 assists.

Most iconic moment of Iniesta's career came in the final of 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He scored the lone goal of the match in the extra time and helped Spain win their first every world title. Two years later, Iniesta won his second successive Euro title as Spain thrashed Italy 4-0 in the final in Kyiv.

Iniesta mostly operated on the left side of the midfield, getting into pockets of space and combining with the strikers. For a man, who stood at just 1.71m tall, he was exceptionally strong on the ball. The Spaniard was technically very good and his ability to take on defenders was second to none. He was also the man for the big occasions, having scored last-minute screamer for Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League semi-finals against Chelsea.

Iniesta made his international debut in May 2006 and went on to play 131 matches for the Spanish national team, scoring 14 goals and bagging 30 assists in the process.

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