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Ex-Barcelona Star Iniesta Vows to Play on After Surgery

Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - FC Barcelona vs Real Sociedad - Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain - May 20, 2018 Barcelona's Andres Iniesta after the match REUTERS/Albert Gea/Files
Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - FC Barcelona vs Real Sociedad - Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain - May 20, 2018 Barcelona's Andres Iniesta after the match REUTERS/Albert Gea/Files
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Ex-Barcelona Star Iniesta Vows to Play on After Surgery

Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - FC Barcelona vs Real Sociedad - Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain - May 20, 2018 Barcelona's Andres Iniesta after the match REUTERS/Albert Gea/Files
Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - FC Barcelona vs Real Sociedad - Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain - May 20, 2018 Barcelona's Andres Iniesta after the match REUTERS/Albert Gea/Files

Former Barcelona star Andres Iniesta has promised his glittering career won't be cut short by the thigh injury that has left him facing four months on the sidelines.

The World Cup-winning Spanish midfielder, 36, said he planned to be back for his Japanese club Vissel Kobe next season after undergoing surgery in Barcelona on a ruptured tendon.

Iniesta suffered the injury in the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League, where he helped Vissel reach the semi-finals before they were knocked out on Sunday.

"The surgery has been a success and I am feeling very well," Iniesta said in a statement posted on Twitter, with a photo of himself giving the thumbs-up from his hospital bed.

"My objective is to get back on track as soon as possible and enjoy what I like doing the most.

"All my energy is already put into the recovery and the work that lies ahead."

The Spanish maestro was injured and substituted during Vissel's round-of-16 victory over China's Shanghai SIPG in Doha, a match in which he scored.

He made a telling cameo appearance in the quarter-final against South Korea's Suwon Bluewings, coming on as a 113th-minute substitute and scoring Vissel's first penalty in a 7-6 shoot-out victory.

Iniesta clutched his thigh and grimaced immediately after slotting his kick past Suwon goalkeeper Yang Sang-min, and did not appear in Vissel's 2-1 semi-final defeat by Ulsan Hyundai three days later.

Iniesta joined Vissel in 2018 after making 442 appearances for Barcelona, where he was the midfield dynamo in some of the club's greatest ever teams.

Barcelona wished Iniesta a speedy recovery in a Twitter post on Wednesday, as did Spanish side Albacete, where Iniesta began his youth career.

Spanish basketball star Pau Gasol, a six-time NBA All-Star and winner of two Olympic silver medals with the Spanish national team, also sent a message of encouragement.

Vissel end their 2020 season on Saturday with their final J-League game against FC Tokyo. The 2021 J-League season starts with the curtain-raising Super Cup on February 20.

Iniesta was a key part of the Barcelona side that won trebles in 2009 and 2015. He won nine La Liga crowns and four European Champions League titles, and scored the winner in the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa to give Spain its first ever title.

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Chicago Bulls Plan to Retire Derrick Rose’s Jersey Next Season

Former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose speaks to the audience during a half-time celebration for Derrick Rose Night at the United Center on January 4, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)
Former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose speaks to the audience during a half-time celebration for Derrick Rose Night at the United Center on January 4, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)
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Chicago Bulls Plan to Retire Derrick Rose’s Jersey Next Season

Former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose speaks to the audience during a half-time celebration for Derrick Rose Night at the United Center on January 4, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)
Former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose speaks to the audience during a half-time celebration for Derrick Rose Night at the United Center on January 4, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)

Derrick Rose wasn't sure how he will feel when sees his No. 1 hanging from the rafters. He was still trying to process the news.

The Chicago Bulls announced Saturday they plan to retire Rose's jersey sometime next season. The Chicago product and MVP will join Michael Jordan (23), Scottie Pippen (33), Jerry Sloan (4) and Bob Love (10) as the only players whose numbers have been retired by the team.

Team president and CEO Michael Reinsdorf informed him in person on Saturday morning, telling him “nobody’s wearing that No. 1 jersey again” unless son PJ plays for the team. Rose, who retired in September after 16 seasons, was already scheduled to be honored with tributes before and during their game against the New York Knicks that night. The Bulls said they will have more details about the jersey retirement at a later date.

“Tonight is not about that,” Rose said. He said it was about showing appreciation for “everybody that was a part of the story, the journey, the good, the bad, the ugly.”

“It's celebrating everyone,” he said. “I understand coming from Chicago that it's tough love. It's a lot of tough love. You could forget about the love sometimes and just give toughness. Coming back, me being raised off of that tough love, I just wanted to show the love part. There's toughness, too, but you don't have to be tough all the time. It's understanding and realizing why I'm here.”

Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement: “Derrick is both a hometown hero and a symbol of an entire era of Bulls basketball."

On Saturday, the Bulls unveiled the “Derrick Rose Experience” in the United Center’s atrium showcasing memorabilia from his career. Players on both teams wore themed shooting shirts displaying “1.4.25” symbolizing the date as well as the numbers he wore with the Bulls, Knicks and at Chicago's Simeon Career Academy. Black T-shirts emblazoned with a red rose were at each seat. There were to be moments throughout the game recognizing Rose, his family and teammates.

At halftime, Rose walked out to those familiar “MVP! MVP!” chants after a highlight video played. He took a seat next to his mom, Brenda. He broke down when former teammate Joakim Noah told him he “always put your city on your back” and said he's “the people's champ.” Another video narrated by PJ was shown before Rose addressed the crowd.

“So well deserved,” New York's Tom Thibodeau, who coached Rose in his prime with the Bulls as well as in New York and Minnesota, said before the game. “For what he means to the city, the Bulls, the entire NBA. I had the opportunity to coach against him, so I know how difficult that is. I had the good fortune to coach him. You see in looking in the eyes of the opponent, when they had to guard him you could see the fear and the respect.”

Thibodeau said Rose — known for his humility almost as much as his explosiveness — was “probably the most beloved player in the league.” He also said he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Rose, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft, went from being Rookie of the Year to an All-Star to NBA MVP in his first three seasons. He remains the league's youngest MVP, winning it when he was 22.

A major knee injury during the 2012 playoffs forced him to miss almost two full seasons and he contemplated stepping away from the game several times following other injury issues.

Rose averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in 723 regular-season games. He averaged 21 points per game before the ACL tear 12 years ago and 15.1 per game in the seasons that followed. But he insisted he doesn't think about what might have been if not for the injuries.

“The last time I had those conversations was years and years ago,” he said. “Who knows? But at the same time, with me being obsessed, I wouldn't have found out who I was as a person. I was obsessed with the game. Not love, I was obsessed. If I would have won one championship, I would have wanted four. And that would have pulled me further and further away from finding self-knowledge, self-revelation, my identity. Everybody's story is different. For some reason, mine ended being this way. Coming from Chicago, we roll with the punches.”