Profile: Andres Iniesta - Barcelona and Spain
Andres Iniesta was born on 11 May 1984 in Fuentealbilla, Spain. When he was 12 years old, he took a trip with his parents to visit the La Masia youth academy at Barcelona and led to him becoming enrolled at the school.
He had begun playing as a defensive midfielder but his ability to play further up the pitch soon saw him become a more attack-minded playmaker and helped him to work his way through the club’s various youth levels.
His displays were so impressive for the Barcelona B team that then head coach Louis van Gaal opted to give the then 18-year-old his first-team debut in the UEFA Champions League against Club Brugge in October 2002. The youngster could not hold down a place in the first-team however, and made just six appearances in total for Barca in the 2002-03 season.
First senior goals
Iniesta had a little more success in the 2003-04 season, where he scored his first two goals for the senior side and featured for the first team 17 times across all competitions as he proved to be an able deputy for Brazilian superstar Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (‘Ronaldinho’) and helped Barca finish second in the league behind Valencia.
It was in the 2004-05 season where Iniesta really began to make his mark. He firmly established himself in the first team and played all but one of the club’s league games that season. He provided several assists for Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o to score from, but found the net just twice himself. Nevertheless, it was a successful season for the player and his club as Iniesta claimed his first La Liga winners’ medal. He played 46 games across all competitions that season.
The 2005-06 season saw Iniesta start more matches in the heart of midfield due to injuries sustained by stalwart Xavi Hernandez. The opportunity to have more playing time meant that he was able to develop his already-notable balance, close control and skill on the ball to become a top-class midfielder. Under manager Frank Rijkaard, Iniesta helped Barca to a league and Champions League double.
First Spain appearance
It was during this season that Iniesta won his first cap for Spain — as a substitute in a friendly with Russia in May 2006 — after helping Spain to the UEFA European Under-16 Championship as well as the Under-19 European title as a youngster.
Iniesta’s versatility helped him to retain a regular place in the starting line-up in the 2006-07 season as he netted nine times in 57 matches. He also scored his first international goal, the only strike in a 1-0 friendly win over England in February 2007.
The 2007-08 season was Barca’s second trophy-less campaign in succession, during which Iniesta scored four times in 49 appearances. However, Spain’s success in winning the UEFA 208 European Football Championship — a competition at which Iniesta was named in the Team of the Tournament — was the catalyst for an incredibly fruitful couple of years for both club and country.
Glut of trophies
Though the 2008-09 season brought some injury troubles for the 5ft 7in Iniesta, he helped Barca claim the treble of the Spanish League, Spanish Cup and Champions League. In the calendar year of 2009, Barca also won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup as they established themselves as the best club team in the world. Iniesta finished fourth in the voting for the Ballon d’Or in 2009, the award given to the European Footballer of the Year, while he was named in UEFA’s team of the year and was also named as the league’s Best Attacking Midfielder.
Though Iniesta and Barcelona were unable to repeat those incredible successes last season, they still managed to win the league title for the second year in a row.
Iniesta was named in Spain’s squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. After a disappointing 1-0 opening loss to Switzerland, he scored in a 2-1 win over Chile in the group stage and was named man of the match. He excelled throughout the tournament and was shortlisted for the Golden Ball award for the best player of the competition — an accolade which was given to Uruguay’s Diego Forlan. However, Iniesta managed to create his own piece of history as he scored the winning goal in the final to help Spain become world champions for the first time.
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