The man who helped Barcelona’s tiki-taka team win the World Cup in 2010 and score the game’s winning goal for Spain, Andrés Iniesta, has announced his retirement from football. After 22 years of play, the 40-year-old Iniesta claimed two European Championship crowns and four Champions League medals.
He had been playing for Vissel Kobe in Japan and, most recently, with club Emirates in the UAE Pro League since leaving Barcelona in 2018. After making his Barcelona first-team debut in 2002, Iniesta made 674 appearances overall.
Along with six Copa del Reys, Iniesta won nine Spanish leagues with the Catalan club. Along with winning the 2008 and 2012 Euros and the 2010 World Cup, where he scored the game-winning goal in extra time with a right-footed strike from inside the area, Iniesta also contributed to Spain’s dominance in international football.