October 8th, 2024 was the day ex-Barcelona, Spanish national team player Andres Iniesta retired from football following a stellar career and having had a massive influence on the beautiful game. Cementing his name into the midfielder hall of fame, apart from the Ballon'd 'or, he has gone on to win it all- not just for his clubs, but for his country. Winning two prestigious trophies adding to his legendary legacy, the pitch will never forget him as Spain’s most decorated player.
Rise to greatness
Coming from the humble village of Albacete in Spain, Andres’ first footballing experiences came from playing futsal matches from a young age following a lack of football pitches nearby. He developed his magical trade of skills when on the ball, along with experience playing for junior seven aside team Albacete Balompie. His flair for football ended up interesting multiple clubs where Barcelona stood out to the young spirit. After swiftly arriving in Barcelona, captaining the under-15s was not enough for him: he proceeded to win the Nike Premier Cup leading to one of many.
FC Barcelona’s maestro
After his time in the academy, Andres made his debut against Club Brugge in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League on 29th October 2002 in an away win beating the Belgian side 1-0. An injured Xavi during the 2005-06 season left a gap in the team where Andres was chosen as the man to fulfill his dreams, allowing his talent to shine on the big stage. A year later in the 2006-07 pre-season tournament, he captained the Barcelona side lifting the Joan Gamper trophy with them, scoring two against Bayern Munich in a 4-0 thrashing for the trophy.
Mid-November 2008. Early into the LaLiga season, Iniesta suffered from a leg injury leaving him out until 3rd January 2009. During his first game Camp Nou erupted as he scored a vital goal to initiate a comeback against Mallorca, ten minutes after coming on as a substitute. He then captained Barcelona for the first time three days later in a 3-1 victory against Atletico Madrid. Soon after, the Champions League final saw goals from Iniesta and his team in previous games against Chelsea leading to this thrilling moment.
27th May 2009. Barcelona play Manchester United in Rome; little did the Manchester side know, Iniesta was raring to go, assisting Samuel Eto ‘o early on helping them achieve a 2-0 win with Lionel Messi contributing a great goal. Barcelona had just won the treble! After the gripping match, Wayne Rooney described Iniesta as “the best player in the world.”
Regularly captaining Barcelona at this point after Carles Puyol, Barcelona had won its second treble in the 2014-15 season. Scoring three in the Copa Del Ray campaign and receiving Man of the Match with an assist in the 2015 Champions League Final against Juventus, Iniesta’s team played in a victorious match winning 3-1. In doing so, Iniesta had become one of the only seven players at the time to win the treble twice. Despite El Classico being one of football's biggest rivalries, Iniesta was still able to receive applause at the Bernabéu by Real Madrid fans. His time at Barcelona was astounding, however, like most things, it came to an unfortunate end on 27th April 2018 in an emotional 1-0 win at home against Real Sociedad.
Vissel Kobe and Emirates
24th May 2018. Iniesta comes on as a substitute making his debut for the Japanese side in the 3-0 defeat to Shonan Bellmare. Things were shaky for him in his two years at the club since he had kept facing injuries, however he still managed to win his first piece of Japanese silverware on New Year’s Day in 2020, beating Kashima Antler 2-0 in the Emperor’s Cup. Following this, the Japanese Super Cup a month later. A year before leaving the club, Iniesta ended up helping Vissel Kobe win their first league title for the first time in club history in 2022.
Not wanting to retire from club football just yet, Iniesta insisted on playing one more season in the UAE Pro League. Despite his need to play football, this was slowly fading away after placing 14th in the league; this unsuccessful League journey ending up with the club being relegated. Following this his inevitable football retirement loomed.
Repping his country
Bursting into the national team in 2001, Iniesta had already started contributing to the Spanish national team winning the UEFA European Under 16 Championship, and the Under 19 Championship a year later. This then led eventually to his captaincy with the Under 21 team. Following this, Iniesta was able to make his debut for the senior squad on 27th May 2006 in a friendly against Russia; this was just the start of his influential role in the Spanish eleven.
During the 2008 UEFA EUROS, Iniesta proceeded to contribute toward goals, assisting players like David Silva in a win over Russia in the group stages. He then went on to play the duration against Germany in the final, defeating them 1-0 with Fernando Torres scoring the winner. As a result of his outstanding performance, he made it into the Team of the Tournament alongside many of his Spanish teammates, with midfield partner Xavi being included. Two years later, Andreas Iniesta went on to be selected for the Spanish World Cup side where he went on to score the winning goal in the final against Germany 1-0, also earning himself Man of the Match.
Winning another international tournament in 2012, Andreas went on to win the Euros against Italy 4-0 and received Man of the Match for his outstanding performance. After this, Iniesta continued to put shift after shift in for his country until his international retirement on 1st July 2018 amounting to 131 senior international caps.
After Football
Scoring 104, assisting 121, and playing 940 games, Iniesta leaves football as the most decorated Spanish player winning awards such as the World Cup, Club World Cup, UEFA Best player in Europe, and many more. He now lives in the UAE and is taking a managerial course in hopes of making it as a football manager someday claiming he is “motivated to continue training outside of football”.
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