Iniésta bids Barça farewell
After two decades Spanish soccer star Andrés Iniesta bid farewell to Camp Nou
THE enormous stadium is almost deserted as he peels off his shoes and socks and walks barefoot across the pitch.
He’d practically grown up in Camp Nou, the home of FC Barcelona, arriving here as a timid, homesick 12-yearold. Now 22 years later he’s saying farewell to the club that’s helped make him one of the best footballers in the world.
For Andrés Iniesta (34), his team and football fans around the world it’s the end of an era – but what an era it’s been.
Barça’s manager, Ernesto Valverde, was among the many football personalities who paid tribute to Iniesta and his glittering career after his side’s final, victorious La Liga match of the season against Real Sociedad.
Valverde described Iniesta and teammate Lionel Messi as “unrepeatable, historical players who’ll be talked about long into the future”.
Iniesta won 32 major trophies with the Catalan giants during his 22 years with the side “and he’ll remain an example for all”, Barça striker Luis Suárez wrote in a heartfelt letter to his departing teammate.
“Andriu, my friend. Four years ago I arrived in Barcelona and I could tell from the first day that you’re a different [type of] person. It wasn’t an easy moment for me, [it was] the opposite, but from the start you showed me warmth. You supported me at all times.
“Brother, I wish you the best in the next chapter of your career. I’m convinced it will be successful, it couldn’t be any other way. You’re a great! Thanks for everything, captain, we’ll miss you a lot.”
Former teammate Xavi Hernández also penned a touching tribute, emphasising the Barça captain’s humility and the respect and love he has earned.
“He departs in the manner he deserves – nobody has a negative word to say about him,” he wrote.
Zinedine Zidane, coach of Barça’s great rival Real Madrid, believes Iniesta should’ve won football’s most prestigious award, the Ballon d’Or.
It was Iniesta’s decisive goal that secured Spain their first World Cup title
in 2010 at Soccer City in Johannesburg – but the Spaniard was beaten to the award by Messi. “I think he really deserved to win the Ballon d’Or when he won his World Cup,” Zidane says. “He’d had an exceptional year.”
INIESTA addressed nearly 85 000 supporters crammed into the stadium after the final whistle of his final game with Barça. “I’ll move on and carry you all in my heart forever. It’s been a wonderful 22 years full of pride and it’s been a pleasure to represent this club. I thank you for all the love and respect you’ve given me. I arrived as a child. Now I leave as a man.”
Long after the fans had gone home, Iniesta remained on the pitch, pacing barefoot in the cool grass. Then he sat down, took out his phone, and posted a video on Twitter at 1.40am.
“Hello, everyone,” he wrote. “I’m still here. It’s hard for me, it’s hard for me to go. Thank you for all the love, it’s been a magical day, an unforgettable day. You’ll always be in my heart.
“Many years, many feelings, many emotions, but without doubt I’ll never be able to return all the love and respect you’ve shown me during this time. A big kiss for everyone.”
There were kisses along with plenty of tears when Iniesta’s parents left him at Barça’s youth academy, La Masia, in 1996. After his parents headed back to their hometown of Fuentealbilla nearly five hours’ drive away – in a Ford Orion that kept breaking down – the child prodigy spent “many days crying and feeling alone”, he told The Guardian.
He didn’t tell the story to make people feel sorry for him, he stressed – it was just to show “elements of a footballer’s life are difficult, just like everyone else’s”.
“I don’t think I’m an exception. It costs una barbariedad [a colossal amount] to get to the first team and even more to stay there.
“I spent my whole life at Barça, living with the pressure from the age of 12. But you’re born a footballer, wanting to be one, so it doesn’t matter how old you are.”
In his 2016 biography, The Artist: Being Iniesta, he wrote about his struggle with depression ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.
He sought therapy, he said, but ultimately it was his goal at Soccer City in Joburg that won Spain the World Cup that pulled him out of his “dark place” and helped him soar even higher.
His prowess on the pitch has earned him plenty of nicknames, including El Ilusionista (The Illusionist), El Cerebro (The Brain) and El Caballero Pálido (The Pale Knight), yet Iniesta has never been an attention-seeking, limelight-hogging football celeb.
Former Barça star Pep Guardiola once famously announced that “Andrés doesn’t dye his hair, doesn’t wear earrings and hasn’t got tattoos. That makes him unattractive to the media but he’s the best.” In fact, his quiet, self-deprecating nature has made Iniesta even more popular. INIESTA, who returned to Mzansi when Barça played Mamelodi Sundowns in a match in honour of Madiba’s 100th birthday recently, will next play for Spain in the upcoming World Cup in Russia.
But his time at Barcelona is over. At an emotional press conference he said he wanted to finish his time at the club “feeling useful, feeling important and still winning titles”.
He hasn’t finished playing soccer but he won’t be playing in Europe any more because, “I won’t play against Barça”.
He told Spanish radio station Onda Cero he was considering “two scenarios, China or Japan, and each has its advantages”.
“There are some minor details to be sorted out. We’re weighing everything up.”
Iniesta is also a wine producer and is keen to expand his wine label. But he has stressed that wherever he goes the quality of life of his family will be the deciding factor.
He and his wife, Anna Ortiz, have three children – Valeria (7), Paolo Andrea (3) and Siena (1).
By leaving Barca he’s leaving a chunk of his heart behind. But it’s time. “I understand in the near future I will not be able to give the best of myself in all senses, both physically and mentally.”
And when it comes to his beloved Barcelona, nothing but the best is good enough.
‘He deserved to win the Ballon d’Or when he won the world cup’