Andrés Iniesta, the second bald divine, retires at 40 – Libération

A sad day for football. Alone, on a stage, in front of an audience of journalists, Andrés Iniesta formalized his retirement from professional football this Tuesday, October 8. “The lawn is over“, he said, with emotion. The silky Spanish midfielder, now 40 years old, unfolded the thread of his rich career accompanied by videos of his ex-coaches or relatives broadcast on a screen above him. The day before, he had already published on X (formerly Twitter) a summary of his life as a footballer.

The FC Barcelona legend spent sixteen years in Catalonia, playing 674 matches and scoring 57 goals. Under the Blaugrana jersey, Andrés Iniesta has won 32 trophies, including four Champions Leagues and nine Spanish Championships. At the same time, “Don Andrés” established himself as the key player in the victories of the Spanish selection (131 caps), lifting Euro-2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro-2012 in quick succession. It was he who gave Spain its first world title thanks to a goal in the final against the Netherlands.

After years of glory in Spain, where the environment he composed with Busquets and Xavi reigned over the world of football, Andrés Iniesta finally left his training club in 2018, to head towards Japan, and the club Vissel Kobe. After five seasons there, the man with 130 national team caps joined the Emirates Club in the United Arab Emirates for a final one-year stint.

Coaching diploma

Andrés Iniesta is not going to move away from football, however, since he has announced his intention to become a coach. “This is 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 said.

The newly retired man had already started to prepare for the rest of his life, including the creation of his own vineyard and his football academy, with the long-stated objective of one day becoming coach of his (almost) club. always.