He doesn’t leave football, nor does he retire; Andrés Iniesta stops playing. This is how he, one of the most fantastic players, as admired as he is respected in the world of football, especially idolized in the Spanish team and Barcelona, defined his farewell to professional football at the age of 40. He announced it yesterday in the Catalan capital, in an emotional but sober event, surrounded by his family and colleagues. “I am leaving with sadness, I would have played until I was 90 years old, but I am leaving happy,” highlighted the man from La Mancha. It was a 22-year career in which he won 38 titles, 35 between Barcelona (including four Champions Leagues), Vissel Kobe and the Emirates Club and three with the Spanish team, no less than two European Championships and a World Cup. “I would have been happy to play just one game in First Division. The rest has been a gift.”
A mix of street and academy, hardened in the streets of Fuentealbilla and polished in La Masia, Iniesta represents a nostalgic football, surely purer, always linked to childhood. This is how Luis Enrique, his teammate and coach at Barcelona, understood it. “Andrés reflects what we felt when we were children and our mother called us to come back: ‘Go up, go up’,” Luis Enrique, Iniesta’s teammate and coach at Barcelona, described him. It had been a long time since Iniesta was ripe for saying goodbye. I expected it without much eagerness, but I didn’t delay it. Until a day came when he understood that the time had come. That’s when everything came crashing down. Approximately three weeks ago, Iniesta informed those around him that he wanted to announce his retirement. The preparation was as express as it was well organized, in which Iniesta had the leading role, of course, but also his family.
“I never imagined this day. All the tears today and those of these days are of emotion and pride, but not of sadness. They are the tears of that boy from Fuentealbilla who had the dream of being a soccer player. And I got it, we got it, after a lot of effort, sacrifice and never giving up. I am very proud of the entire journey. My sports career was like a story. I have experienced the best things that can be experienced on a human and football level,” said a genuine Iniesta, perhaps the most authentic of his career, now freed from old ghosts, always equally close to coaches, teammates and journalists.
“He was quiet, prudent, a good companion, but he also had that look with which it was not necessary to use words. I remember when the Espanyol field was cheered when Barcelona won 1-4 or 1-5. That portrays what people appreciate him,” Vicente del Bosque, world and European champion with Iniesta in La Roja, defined it. Louis Van Gaal, who had him at Barcelona for a few months, added: “You have all my respect. “You have my admiration as a player, but above all as a person.” The organization of the farewell event opted for a ceremony celebrating the kind and generous character of the man from La Mancha, defined by his coaches in the tribute video in which the best moments of his career were remembered. “It was my first season at Barcelona and we had gotten one point out of six in the League. It was late and I was still in my office. Between Andrés and he told me: ‘We’re doing well, Pep,’ Guardiola recalled. “Those words were a great shot of energy. I will always appreciate it. I felt it. To me, to Tito [Vilanova]in Aureli [Altimira]”He helped all of us who were there a lot,” the Manchester City coach concluded.
His first coaches at Albacete and Serra Ferrer, the coach who promoted him to the Barcelona first team, also spoke. “He was a teacher before he was a student. It was always a pleasure to receive the ball that Andrés gave you.” At the event, with nearly 500 people at the America’s Cup Experience in Port Vell, there were political and sentimental guests, all equally devoted to the man from La Mancha’s career. There was no shortage of former teammates such as Xavi Hernández, Deco, Ludovic Giuly, Juliano Belletti, Bojan Krkic, Sergi Roberto, Sergi Samper, Joan Capdevila, Gerard López and Thiago Alcántara; nor former coaches like Jordi Roura, Eusebio Sacristán, Juan Carlos Unzué and Aureli Altimira; and even Hansi Flick and members of the current Barcelona squad were present: Ronald Araujo, Gavi, Dani Olmo and Ansu Fati. Joan Laporta did not miss the event and Real Madrid was also present, represented by Emilio Butragueño, director of Institutional Relations.
“Many images will have appeared in the video, but few of those were with titles,” Iniesta said. He had his reasons. And he gave as an example the Ballon d’Or that he lost to Messi in 2010: “The Ballon d’Or is very nice, but when I talk about pride I don’t say it because of the titles, I say it because of the affection of all the people. The rest is a consequence of all the work. The image of Xavi, Leo and I is bigger than having achieved it. Three guys from the house on the podium. That is the real prize. That’s what I feel.” He was inclusive with his family – after mentioning them he asked them to come to the stage to take a photo -, as well as skilled at haggling over the question of the rift between Barça and Spain: he did not want to choose between the goal in Johannesburg, which sealed the World Cup of Spain, and his shout at Stamford Bridge with Barcelona, which certified the pass to the 2009 Champions League, the genesis of the best Barça in history. “I can’t choose, they are two goals that symbolize my two lives.” Iniesta doesn’t retire, he just stops playing. His life will continue to be linked to football, surely as a coach. “I’m training,” Iniesta said. The ball will thank you.
