Andres Iniesta’s face was all over Kobe, Japan’s fifth biggest city, staring out from posters announcing J League matches, but also on packets of biscuits and tube tickets. The Spaniard had moved out of Spain for the first time and was now living in Japan after a stellar career with Barcelona.
But this wasn’t a sunset year in the land of the rising sun – he stayed for six years with his family, immersing himself culturally and winning a J League title before moving to join Emirates Club in the UAE in 2023. He will announce his retirement on Tuesday, aged 40, having won the biggest trophies for club and country.
At his peak, Iniesta was one of the best midfielders in the world, though he had an uncertain start, taking some time to establish himself in Barcelona’s first team at 22. His former teammate and later manager Luis Enrique recalled him getting lost on the first day of training with the first team.
“He went to the door of the stadium and was standing with the second team,” said the current Paris Saint-Germain boss. “I told the doorman to bring Iniesta down to our dressing room. I introduced him to the other players in a manner which I would have liked to be introduced, had I been him. I didn’t really know who he was, but that’s what should happen for any new player."
And Iniesta the player?
“I saw him, pale skin, slight,” recalled Luis Enrique. “But ooh, what a player. A lot of players don’t realise that Iniesta and Xavi had lots of games on the bench. Only [Lionel] Messi walked into the first team. Young players have to understand, adapt and learn. They have to learn little by little, otherwise there is too much pressure on them. Only Messi went straight into the first team.
"After Messi, Iniesta became the most inventive player in Spanish football. Like Harry Potter. 1-2-3, and whoosh, he’s past the player. It’s like he has a magic wand.”
Luis Enrique’s point about Iniesta’s career progression is also how the man himself sees it.
“It was in stages,” Iniesta told The National of his rise. “Being called up to train with the first team. That’s when you think: ‘Wow, they move the ball so quickly’. That’s the big difference, the speed. You don’t just adjust to it immediately, it takes time. You have to adapt and learn.
"And then you’re in a dressing room with lots of famous players from around the world. You go from reading about these guys and seeing them on television to seeing them every day and becoming friends with them. And then I started to play games in the first team, but I was on the bench a lot. Xavi too.
"It was only Leo who went straight into the first team. I would get 20 minutes and then 30 minutes. You think you are ready but you’re not. It was an intelligent way to bring a young player through. I was around 22 before I was playing most of the games in the first team.”
Iniesta played an incredible 885 games in club football (674 for Barcelona’s first team) with 131 appearances for Spain. The boy who grew up in the small town Fuentealbilla – “a long way from Barcelona” – with posters of Pep Guardiola and Michael Laudrup on his wall (plus Michael Jordan) had a career to match the best.
There were doubts about his size at the start. “I’ve never been tall so I never saw it as a disadvantage,” he revealed earlier in his career.
“It was just me and I was never going to be asked to mark a guy who is nearly two metres. I felt that I could be inventive and you didn’t need to be big to get past other players. Sometimes being smaller can be an advantage. Leo Messi is hardly a giant, is he? Football is played on the ground with your feet and the smaller players are closer to the ground.”
And he helped make Messi the world’s best.
“I had watched him from when he was 13 or 14 and you could see then he was on another level,” said Iniesta.
“I’ll never forget him. He was unique. He always wanted the ball; he had that speed and skill to dribble past players. He was aggressive too with the ball. But he had everything. Some young players have certain aspects to succeed, Leo had tactical intelligence, but he had to improve in every level – physical, tactical, experience – and he did.
"He had to learn to influence the game when he didn’t have the ball. And he did, partly because opponents knew how dangerous he was. Just him being there made defenders nervous because they knew it would be difficult for them if he got the ball. A nervous defender is going to make mistakes.”
Iniesta first showed his quality at the very highest level when he came on at half time in the 2006 Champions League final against Arsenal. Barcelona were 1-0 down; Arsenal down to 10 men. The Catalans scored twice to win a second European Cup.
In 2008, Guardiola became his coach. He got off to a bad start. Iniesta went to see him in his office. “He was under pressure because this is Barca and the pressure is high,” said Iniesta.
“I have known that as a player since I was 12, but when you are coach it is even more. People were already doubting him as a coach. It wasn’t easy for him and he was not an experienced coach who was used to this. But if he suffered then we suffered.
"And it wasn’t just the start for Pep. We finished the previous season poorly and lost 4-1 at Madrid, who won the title. Fans were not happy, but they couldn’t see what we were doing pre-season.
“The players could and we liked the way the coach was working, that he had a more defined style than we had been used to. It was very clear what he wanted and he communicated that well to us. The least I could do was tell the coach not to change anything.”
Iniesta’s relationship with Xavi was key to Barcelona’s success.
“It didn’t just happen instantly,” he said. “Even though we were in different age groups, we’d grown up in the same system, doing the same thing season after season. That’s the advantage of a system like Barca.
"The hard work and practice and listening to our coaches paid off. We thought the same, we trained the same. I think we both had an intuition. We believed in the club’s system; we were crazy about following our hero Pep Guardiola into the first team and playing for Barca. That was the dream but most don’t realise it. We did.
"We’re different footballers, but we had a lot in common. We were quite similar outside football and we got on very well. He’s a normal guy, a tranquil family man. We connected well in every way.”
Iniesta scored a key goal – his 2009 strike at Stamford Bridge robbed Chelsea of a place in the Champions League final.
“A magic moment,” said Iniesta. “A moment of pure joy – in front of our own travelling fans, too. It was one of the greatest moments of my life and an important one. Without it there would not have been six trophies. I know the Chelsea fans suffered but there were times when we suffered against Chelsea. That’s football.”
He played in the final against Manchester United, where he was told not to shoot for fear of aggravating a thigh injury. He still played a part as his side won the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and European Cup.
What was it like playing in that side?
“Your confidence is so high; you enjoy going to training every day. We had powerful players, a powerful coach, a professional staff. They were marvelous years. The highest was probably the game at Wembley in the [2011] final because it was the final, because of the stage, because of the opponents. That was probably the best game under Guardiola – that or the 5-0 against Real Madrid."
In 2010, Iniesta scored the winning goal in the World Cup final as Spain beat Netherlands yet he’d suffered before it.
“I felt bad,” he said of the months before. “Uneasy. Doubtful. Vulnerable. I didn’t feel right in my life. I needed to recharge my batteries at that time. I didn’t speak to my teammates but I spoke to doctors at the club and I’m glad I did. There are specialists there to help anyone who feels like this. I was fortunate to have a good family around me, too. And football. That’s a way to relax the mind and to enjoy. Slowly I began to feel better.”
And then he scored and lifted his shirt to reveal the name of Dani Jarque, Espanyol’s captain who had died the previous year.
“I’d known Dani Jarque a long time,” he said. “I wrote his name on my T-shirt before the game but that was just in case we won and I could wear it after the game. I wanted his name next to the World Cup for his friends and his family and fans to see. I’m pleased I did it and that more people know Dani’s name around the world. It was so sad what happened and I’m glad people still ask me about Dani now.”
Spain were the best team in the world; European champions in 2008 and 2012, world champions in 2010. Iniesta won an astonishing 35 major trophies, including nine La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues, two European Championships and the World Cup.
“It’s real, it happened,” he said. “The dream not only came true, it was even better in real life. All of them were important at the time but the highest level was the World Cup for Spain and the Champions League with Barca. You can’t have higher than this and I can’t pick a favourite from those two.”
Asked about his future, Iniesta said he wanted to remain in touch with the game. "I think I’d like to be a coach when I finish. If I can’t be on the grass then I want to be close to the grass.”
He did manage the playing part of it. Whatever happens as the next chapter in his life is bound to be interesting.
Andy Mitten followed Andres Iniesta throughout his career and interacted with him on various occasions. Quotes taken from those interactions.
