Farewell, “ don Andres.”
Soccer will not be same from now on. It is true, he leaves for the ascending Japanese soccer, but far removed from the European soccer elite.
Andres Iniesta bid farewell to Barcelona 22 years since his arrival as a child. He ends a long, successful career not only at the club and the national team, to which he delivered the only star on its badge, but on soccer as a whole.
“Don Andres” surged at the perfect moment, when soccer called for a total turnaround. He was an inspiration for all the lovers of the most popular sport on the planet. It is true that soccer had been revolutionized by the frontal game of the English, or the same tenacity of the Spaniards themselves as “La Furia Roja” without international success.
But something was missing to fine tune the “total football” that the Netherlands gifted the world from Germany 1974 on.
Everything changed starting in the 2008-2009 season when Pep Guardiola took the reins of Barcelona. The Catalonian coach arrived with fresh ideas to refine a style implemented by Johan Cruyff and, luckily for the world, Iniesta was there.
It is undeniable that, without help from the rest of the roster, the one that marked a breaking point in the history of the club, nothing would have been the same, so soccer, in general, must be thankful to that famous “tiki-taka,” that style that without the genius of Iniesta would have been different, that without “Don Andres’” magic no magic wand would have changed the course of history.
Attributing Barcelona’s success to one player would lead to endless debates because, inevitably, some would put the names of Xavi Hernandez at the center of the argument, or that of Lionel Messi front page, but who in their right mind would deny the argument that nothing would have been the same without Iniesta.
Farewell to the monster who takes 32 titles with him as undeniable proof that the road was difficult. Farwell to the great one who demonstrated that to get to the top and stay there, you must sweat to the bone. Farewell to the giant who learned when to keep quiet the rough moments and not raise his voice but raise trophies, to take the success of others who took to the cameras by the hand with his own personal triumphs but who know that, without Iniesta, maybe would not be who they are.
Other historic players like Fernando Torres and Gianluigi Buffon also bid farewell. Their legacies are also great and will remain in the annals of history, but those who said goodbye leave a hole so big it makes us think that time will stand still until an equally-great star is born.
Farewell, “Don Andres.” After the 2018 World Cup, nothing will be the same.
We will miss you.
