Spain Legend Andres Iniesta has announced his retirement from international football following Spain’s shock exit from the World Cup at the hands of Russia.
The Spain captain featured as a second half substitute on Sunday night with the game tied 1-1 but was unable to impact the game as they were beaten by the hosts in a penalty shootout.
Before the tournament, it was understood that this was likely to be the 34-year-old’s last World Cup campaign for his country and after the final whistle was blown on Spain’s tournament, so did it on Iniesta’s international career.
‘Today is my last match with the Spanish football team. A wonderful stage ends and sometimes the finals are not as you want,’ Iniesta confirmed after Sunday’s defeat according to Radio Estadio.
It has been a season of change for Iniesta after announcing he would depart his boyhood club Barcelona at the end of the campaign after 22 years of service at the Nou Camp as he heads for Japan.
Iniesta has 131 caps for Spain, scoring 13 goals.
He scored the winning goal in his country’s only World Cup final win in 2010.
