Legendary former FC Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andrés Iniesta today officially announced his retirement from football. We first signed with Andrés well over a decade ago and have always thoroughly enjoyed working with him, indeed every bit as much as his balletic football.
Counting down eight reasons why we loved the career Don Andrés led for club and country, all of us at Icons.com would like thank him for the memories as we hope to see him soon for another signing session.
To celebrate the great career of the great man, we are offering 10% OFF all items in our Andrés Iniesta collection – simply use the code ‘INIESTA8’ at the checkout on eligible items.
1. UEFA EURO 2012 Best Player of the Tournament
Fresh from winning the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Spain entered UEFA EURO 2012 as defending champions and heavy favourites. Even so, the Roja side of 2012 sparkled with Andrés Iniesta as its muse.
Andrés was extraordinary in Poland and Ukraine, winning the UEFA EURO 2012 Best Player of the Tournament, awarded by the UEFA Technical Team – a testament to his overall contribution given he did not score and registered just one assist.
“In many ways, he symbolised the tournament – the creative, incisive runner, with and without the ball. We felt that he epitomised a lot of what we saw,” said UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh.
2. Camp Nou farewell
Though it was a deeply affecting and an ultimately sad moment for fans of the man and his club, the image of Andrés Iniesta soaking in his last appearance for FC Barcelona at Camp Nou, alone in the middle of a pitch he had made his own, speaks to his passion for Barça.
When respect and admiration goes both ways, from player to fans and fans to player, that’s when you get a true club legend.
3. Bernabéu ovation
You have to be a special player to get a standing ovation from opposing fans. In this case, the opposing fans weren’t just any opposing fans. In November of 2015, with 15 minutes left of a brutal 4-0 Clásico defeat, it was Madridistas of all people showing their appreciation for Iniesta with a standing ovation.
It was a moment to remember for Don Andrés and symbolic of a player who was able to transcend football rivalry.
4. Partnership with Xavi
Lennon and McCartney. Batman and Robin. Tom and Jerry. Not all duos are created equal. Forming a midfield partnership that produced mountains of trophies, countless awards and too many goals and assists to count, the partnership of Andrés Iniesta and Xavi will go down as the best of a magnificent era and quite possibly the greatest ever.
5. Uncontainable
A picture paints a thousand words. This photo, taken by Ullstein Bild, sums it up. The respect from world class opposition. The art of it, the audacity, the absurdity. It’s all there. Wonderful.
6. Maestro of the “Greatest Team Ever”
The 2010-11 campaign for FC Barcelona will not soon be repeated – if indeed it ever can be. Sir Alex Ferguson described that team as the greatest he’d ever faced. He had every right to say so and every humility to, in the aftermath of Barça’s crowning achievement that season, a 3-1 demolition of Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in the UEFA Champions League final.
No one game could truly define the majesty of that team and that season and, of course, Andrés Iniesta was at the very heart of its success with nine goals and 15 assists in an eye-watering 50 appearances.
7. The ‘Iniestazo‘
This would be THE goal of Andrés Iniesta’s storied career if he hadn’t, well, we’ll get to that. The ‘Iniestazo’ goal will be forever remembered by Blaugrana the world over not only as one of the most dramatic goals in a golden generation for the club but also as the goal that set up an iconic UEFA Champions League triumph.
It’s one of those goals you watch time and again if you’re a Barça fan. And not just that, it’s a damn good goal of a highly technical nature as Iniesta, in the dying embers of their epic semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge, lets a pass from Lionel Messi drag across his body before whipping the ball in to the roof of the Chelsea net.
8. 2010 FIFA World Cup Final winner
Time stood still during this iconic Andrés Iniesta moment, surely the highlight of a remarkable career. Spain had never been world champions and were searching for the breakthrough of a tense FIFA World Cup final in Johannesburg.
They needed a moment of magic. Good thing they had Iniesta, a FIFA World Cup winner in more than one sense.
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