Andres Iniesta, Spain and Barcelona Legend, Sets Retirement Date: A Remarkable Career Comes to a Close

🚨🇪🇸 Andrés Iniesta ha decidido retirarse del fútbol profesional.

Se anunciará el 8 de octubre, su número desde el primer día, como informó @relevo.

Leyenda del juego. Don Andrés. ���🩹🪄 pic.twitter.com/02loVWTQ19

A Las Masia product, Iniesta made his FC Barcelona debut on December 21, 2022, against Mallorca in La Liga, a game Barca won 4-0. The midfielder didn’t take long before emerging as the future superstar in the team flooded with legends. Alongside his former teammate, friend and FCB manager, Xavi Hernandez, Iniesta won plenty of accolades at Barcelona.

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Iniesta represented the La Liga giants in 674 matches across all competitions, scoring 57 times and assisting 135 times.

While the football world remembers Iniesta for countless reasons, not to forget his injury-time winner against the Netherlands in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final in South Africa that helped Spain lift the title, Iniesta’s jersey number 8 holds a special place in Blaugrana history.

However, after he decided to part ways with the FCB, where he won four Champions League titles, nine LaLiga titles, six Copa del Rey trophies, three FIFA Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, and seven Spanish Super Cups, Iniesta moved to Japan to play for Vissel Kobe. 

At his new club, he scored 26 goals and assisted 25 times in 134 appearances before switching bases again to the United Arab Emirates in 2023 to play for the Emirates Club.

Iniesta, meanwhile, was always more than these numbers and accolades, as his vision, elegance, craft and ability to do unthinkable stuff on the football field set him apart from the others.

Spain’s greatest ever teased fans on social media about his upcoming announcement, saying, “COMING SOON. 8, 10, 24,”; however, it’s now confirmed that he will hang his boots come October 8.

COMING SOON8️⃣2️⃣4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/H0eaSKkTwU

(With inputs from agencies)