Symbol of the golden generation of the Spanish selection and Barça, Andres Iniesta decided, Tuesday October 8, to end his rich career at the age of 40, leaving, despite his legendary discretion, an indelible mark through his silky technique and his immense creative talent.
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His name will always be associated with Spain’s only world title, thanks to his goal in the final in 2010 against the Netherlands (1-0 ap), and the prosperous period of FC Barcelona under Lionel Messi, four times victorious in the Champions League (2006, 2009, 2011, 2015).
Coach, the next step
“Being on the pitch is over “, declared the midfieldervisibly moved, after talking at length about his entire career in front of the press, during an event organized in Barcelona. “ I can’t stay away from football, it’s my life and it will continue to be my life. Now I have to continue training, I’m getting my coaching diploma and that’s the next step “, he continued. “ I will try to come back to do a big job, but it will not be running behind the ball, but from another place. »
When we talk about Iniesta, we inevitably think of the Blaugranas of which he was, for almost two decades (2002-2018), the project manager and architect in the midfield, carrying out work in the shadows. goldsmith, magnified in attack by Messi, Eto’o, Suarez, Neymar and others, before offering himself two final stints at Vissel Kobe in Japan (2018-2023) then at the Emirates Club in the United Arab Emirates (2023 -2024).
With the retirement of Iniesta, a glorious page in Spanish and Catalan football is turning, Messi now being the last active member of the Barcelona eleven who enchanted the planet in 2009 by winning the C1 under the orders of Pep Guardiola.
“ Don Andres »
Alongside his eternal friend Xavi, Iniesta was the standard bearer of the famous “ tiki-taka”, this Spanish style of play made of incessant repetition of passes, praised by the greatest coaches and which has brought good fortune to the Roja and Barça.
Iniesta never obtained the Ballon d’Or that his career would have deserved, finishing second in 2010. But the ex-captain of Barça, his training club, always thought of football above all as a collective discipline. “A captain, without his partners, is nobody “, said this enlightened Basque pelota fan one day, with the modesty that characterized him.
For the Spanish, Iniesta has become “ Don Andres”, a great gentleman. An international with 131 caps, the small midfielder (1.70 m, 68 kg) was then given a standing ovation on most of the country’s pitches, with Luis Enrique, his former coach at Barça, even elevating him to the rank of “ heritage of humanity”.