dpa
Madrid
Former Spain star Andrés Iniesta, who scored the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final, has ended his football career for good.
The 40-year-old, a twice European champion and four-time Champions League winner with Barcelona, announced his retirement at a ceremony in the Catalan capital on Tuesday.
"I never expected this day to come, I could never have imagined it,” said a clearly moved Iniesta.
"But all the tears of the last few days are tears of emotion or pride, they are not tears of sadness.
"They are the tears of this boy who had a dream of becoming a footballer and who achieved it after a lot of hard work, effort and sacrifice.”
He spent 16 years in Barcelona’s first team before leaving for Japan’s Vissel Kobe in 2018 and Emirates in the UAE last year.
Iniesta quit the Spain team in 2018 having been part of one of the most successful midfields the game has ever seen.
Ex-Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi wrote on Instagram: "The ball will miss you.”
Iniesta spent the majority of his 22-year career at Barcelona after graduating from the club’s La Masia academy.
He made his senior debut in 2002 and went on to win 29 honours, including nine La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues crowns.
One of his most memorable goals was a spectacular stoppage-time equaliser to knock Chelsea out of the 2009 Champions League semi-final, with Barcelona going on to beat Manchester United in the final.
In 2018 Iniesta joined Japanese side Vissel Kobe before moving to the United Arab Emirates in 2023 to play for UAE Pro League side Emirates.
He was runner-up in the 2010 Ballon d’Or and included in the Fifa Fifpro World 11 for nine successive years between 2009 and 2017.