On the occasion of the farewell ceremony organized to announce his retirement from football, Andrés Iniesta reacted with a moving and surprising response to the Golden Ball he was awarded with in 2010.
On this day, Andrés Iniesta (40) announced the end of his professional football career during an event at the America’s Cup Experience in Barcelona. In front of the media, the former FC Barcelona midfielder was asked about his favorite goal between the one scored at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, which allowed Barça to qualify for the final in Rome in 2009, which the club then won, and the one recorded during the final in South Africa, which gave Spain its world champion title in 2010: “I can’t choose just one of the two. In addition, it is one with the national team and the other with Barça. I can’t… and I’m not saying that to look good. I had the opportunity to score those two goals and see people go crazy at that moment. On a personal level, these are my two strongest moments“, he said. Subsequently, the living legend of FC Barcelona was asked about the Golden Ball that he did not get in 2010.
The Catalan trio goes over
“Today I am sitting here and you have already seen it: pictures with titles will have appeared briefly. What comes to mind most is the love and affection of people. Being able to make many people happy through work, sacrifice… The Ballon d’Or is very beautiful and is part of football, but when I talk about pride, it is not because of the titles, it is because of the dream of being a footballer and having won the affection of everyone. Leo, Xavi and I, the three of us on the podium, is bigger than not having won. Three guys from the house (Masia), being on the podium of the Ballon d’Or, it’s the reward of that day, not the one who won it.” A response which moved the Barcelona fans and which highlighted the greatness of the man.
