ANDREAS INIESTA broke down in tears as he confirmed his retirement from football as one of the sport’s all-time greats.
Reports that the Barcelona icon, 40, was set to hang up his boots emerged last week, but now he has ended speculation with a video on social media.
The Spaniard, who spent six years in Japan and one in the UAE after leaving Barcelona, brought to a close a 22-year career with a social media post on Monday afternoon.
It included tributes from some of his former managers including Pep Guardiola, Louis van Gaal and Luis Enrique.
But it was right at the start of the video when Iniesta got choked up.
He was asked: “Andreas, what does football mean to you?”
Instantly, Iniesta became emotional as he wiped away a tear, before he only managed to say: “For me football has been…”
It then cut to a montage of his old coaches praising him.
Guardiola even revealed during his early days at Barcelona that Iniesta gave him the “boost of energy to keep going” and that he will “always be grateful” to the midfielder.
Iniesta made his Barcelona debut in 2002 and went on to appear in 674 games for the Blaugrana, scoring 57 goals and adding 135 assists.
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His trophy haul includes nine La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues.
Playing alongside Xavi and Sergio Busquets, Iniesta is also considered to have been part of one of the greatest midfield trios football has ever seen.
Iniesta played 131 times for Spain and scored 14 goals, winning the World Cup and two European Championships.
He left Barcelona in 2018 to join Japan’s Vissel Kobe on a free transfer.
He would go on to spend five years in the J-League, winning the league, Japanese Cup and Japanese Super Cup.
UAE side Emirates Club, whom he joined in 2023, would prove to be his final team as he made 23 appearances for them, scoring five goals and providing one assist.
