Lionel Messi has paid tribute to his former Barcelona teammate Andrés Iniesta after the World Cup-winner retired from professional football at the age of 40.
Spain legend Iniesta announced his retirement at a special event in Barcelona on Tuesday, and Messi, another winner of football’s greatest prize, wrote a note to his teammate on Instagram.
“One of the teammates with the most magic and with whom I enjoyed playing the most,” Messi said. “Football will miss you and so will we.”
Real Madrid, Barça’s great rivals in LaLiga, also praised Iniesta in a statement posted to their website.
“Real Madrid CF, its president and its Board of Directors wish to express their recognition, admiration and affection for one of the great legends of Spanish and world football,” it said.
“Andrés Iniesta has contributed to the greatness of the sport with his football and his values, beyond the numerous titles he has won during his career.”
Iniesta told the event that he is starting the next stage of his career by beginning to earn his coaching license.
Iniesta teased his retirement with a video on social media on Monday in which he talked about what football meant to him, before tributes were paid by a number of prominent names including Pep Guardiola, Louis van Gaal and Luis Enrique.
Iniesta was most recently playing for UAE Pro League club Emirates after a 16-year spell at Barça.
The 40-year-old made almost 700 appearances for Barça and won nine LaLiga titles and four Champions Leagues among the 32 trophies he won with the club.
He famously scored the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final as Spain lifted the trophy for the first and only time in the country’s history.
