By Can Erozden
Andres Iniesta, a diminutive football genius and world-class midfielder known for his balance, composure, agility in close spaces and killer passes, ended his stellar career at the age of 40, leaving his mark on the world football.
A brilliant No. 8 on Barcelona's golden era team, Iniesta from Spain last played for Emirates Club in the United Arab Emirates before retiring.
Iniesta was a modest midfield maestro who was integral to the triumphs of Barcelona and the Spanish national team.
He came through Barcelona's famous youth academy, La Masia, and spent 22 years with the Spanish giants.
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who is still an active player at Miami; Spain's Xavi Hernandez; Sergio Busquets; Gerard Pique; Carles Puyol; Jordi Alba and former Spain goalkeeper Victor Valdes were famed La Masia products, and all played with Iniesta at Barcelona.
The youth academy was an instrumental factor in the club's success in European cups.
Iniesta played for Barcelona's senior team for 16 years (2002-2018) and was one of the core members of the starting 11 beginning in the 2004-05 season.
He scored 57 goals and had 135 assists in 674 matches for Barca.
Iniesta helped Barcelona win four UEFA Champions League titles in 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2015. He also secured nine Spanish La Liga titles.
The central midfielder also bagged three FIFA Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups and six Spanish Cups during his time with Barcelona.
- Integral part of Barcelona, Spain
Iniesta was a key player for Barcelona and the Spanish national team during the years they dominated Europe and world football.
He played alongside another club legend, Xavi, and a deep-lying midfielder, Sergio Busquets, at Barcelona and Spain to help build their success.
Busquets is now Messi's teammate at Miami. Xavi retired in 2019.
Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets and one of the best goal-scoring machines, Messi, enforced Barcelona's offense, and they made the team perfectly apply the “Tiki-taka” style of play, featuring quick and short passing.
Barcelona were lethal in dominating matches with that playing style against European opponents and won numerous Champions League titles.
Spain also adopted Barcelona's famous Tiki-taka style and it earned them international success in the EUROs and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Tiki-taka gives high ball possession with quick short passes so that a team that can do it successfully, can dictate the tempo of the game. The style also gives more credit to creativity than the physical battle between players.
Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets were integral in performing Tiki-taka in the most superlative way that brought success to Barcelona and Spain.
Players, who have excellent touch, vision and passing skills, can perform well on the pitch.
Iniesta played when the national team won back-to-back EURO titles in 2008 and 2012.
But on the international football level, a World Cup final is the biggest match for teams and players like Iniesta was a hero for Spain in South Africa in 2010.
In that World Cup final against the Netherlands, Iniesta scored the winning goal in the extra time as Spain were crowned world champions for the first time with a 1-0 win in Johannesburg.
The second place Netherlands had stars such as Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Dirk Kuyt and Rafael van der Vaart. But Iniesta shattered their World Cup dreams.
Iniesta scored 14 goals in 131 international caps for Spain since his debut in 2006.
- Iniesta leaves Barca for Japan's Vissel Kobe in 2018
Iniesta made his way to Asia in 2018 after Following years full of high-level battles and competition in European football.
He signed with Japanese club Vissel Kobe to end his brilliant Barcelona career.
Iniesta tallied 26 goals and 25 assists in 134 matches for Vissel Kobe, where he won a Japanese title in 2023.
He joined Emirates Club in 2023 following a five-year stint in Japan.
He had five goals in 23 matches for Emirates Club during his final season in professional football in the 2023-24 campaign.