Andres Iniesta is not retiring.
It’s a fact that seemed to have been lost somewhere under the rain-drenched lights at Japan’s National Stadium on Tuesday night, where the Spanish legend’s Vissel Kobe faced his former club, reigning La Liga champion Barcelona, in a hastily arranged friendly intended to give the 39-year-old one last chance to play in front of a Tokyo crowd.
A combination of injuries and club-excused absences may have kept the 2010 World Cup champion out of 14 Kanto-area games over his five years in Japan, plus two this season in which he simply didn’t come off the bench.