Biography of Andres Iniesta: – Formed in La Masia Barranca and linked from its origins to FC Barcelona, it has been one of the fundamental pieces of Barça Josep Guardiola, winner in 14 of the 18 competitions he played during his four years as a coach (2008-2012).
Just as decisive has been his contribution to the recent successes of the Spanish team: he scored in the final against the Netherlands so much that gave the Red the World Cup of South Africa (2010) and was declared by UEFA the best player of the Eurocopa 2012, a trophy that Spain raised for the second consecutive time, having also obtained the victory in the 2008 edition.
Biography of Andres Iniesta
- Born:- 11 May 1984 (age 33), Fuentealbilla, Spain
- Spouse:- Anna Ortiz (m. 2012)
- Books:- The Artist: Being Iniesta, The artist
- Current Teams:- : FC Barcelona (#8 / Midfielder), Spain national football team(#6 / Midfielder)
- Awards:- UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award, FIFA FIFPro World XI
- Children:- Valeria Iniesta Ortiz, Paolo Andrea Iniesta Ortiz
- Movies:- Messi
Andres and his younger sister, Maribel, grew up in a working-class family. His father was a bricklayer and his mother helped the grandfather in the bar that ran in the village.
See Also: Biography of Zinedine Zidane
Always playing the ball, with eight years his parents decided to enroll him in the selection tests to enter the lower categories of Albacete Balompié. It was there that, according to his own account, he gave his first “snitches more seriously.”
In 1996, when he participated in the Brunete Tournament, he caught the attention of Albert Benaiges, of the Futbol Club Barcelona, who already had to see something in that boy of only twelve years, because he did not hesitate to sign it and take it to the City of Barcelona.
The beginnings in La Masía, the center of football training of the club azulgrana, were not easy. Accustomed to a rural environment, to share all moments with family and friends, Andrés was slow to adapt personally.
It was not like that in football, because his progression in this sense was quite fast: already in the middle of the season 2000-2001 happened of the youthful one to Barça B, and became the brain of the equipment that at that time trained Josep Maria Gonzalvo .
Regarding his morriña and the attachment to the family, things changed when his family decided to move to Sant Feliu de Llobregat, in the outskirts of Barcelona.
Andres Iniesta officially debuted with Barça’s first team in the 2002-2003 seasons, in a Champions League match, with Dutch coach Louis van Gaal.
During that season and the next the wheel alternated the parties in the two categories, passing definitively to the first equipment in season 2004-2005, with Frank Rijkaard of trainer.
Although he was not a regular in the starting lineup, the canterano played almost every game and won his first Liga.
His consecration, however, would arrive in the 2005-2006 season. With injured Xavi Hernandez, the midfielder became one of the benchmarks of Barça, who won the League, the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup.
Things were not so good in the following seasons for Barça, who saw the Rijkaard project run out and ran out of major titles.
At the individual level, however, the progression of Iniesta did not stop, and in January 2008 the club and the player reached an agreement for the renewal of their contract until June 30, 2014. Their termination clause went from 60 million to 150 million euros.
The 2008-2009 seasons were historic for both the player and the club. Barcelona had signed a young coach, former club player Pep Guardiola, to lead the first team.
The decision of the president Joan Laporta surprised and few were at the beginning of season those who trusted that the equipment had good results.
The time, however, gave Laporta reason, and Barcelona, with Iniesta as a key piece of the team, won the Champions League against Manchester United; the Barca had reached the final thanks to an Iniesta goal in the second part of an agonizing overtime against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, when no longer trusted the victory.
The team also raised the Copa Del Rey against Athletic Club of Bilbao and won again in the League. Before the end of the year, Barcelona added three new titles to the trophy: the Spanish Super Cup, the Spanish Super Cup and the World Club Championship, completing a historic 2009.
The contribution of Iniesta was fundamental in the four years that Guardiola was at the helm of the team, golden stage already considered among the best in the history of the club.
With six of the six possible titles of the 2008-2009 season, a record never reached by any team, there was soon to be added in the 2009-2010 season the national championship of most disputed League – with a record of points included – in the history of the competition , and the Supercopa de España; in the next, 2010-2011, the Spanish League and the Champions League of Europe, victories that gave right to dispute the Supercopa of Spain, the Supercopa of Europe and the World-wide of Clubs, trophies all that went to the showcases of the azulgrana museum. The last season of Guardiola, 2011-2012, brought only the Copa Del Rey.
Also of great importance has been the contribution of Andrés Iniesta to another golden age, that of the national team of Spain, with which he has won no fewer than two Eurocopas and a World Cup.
In 2003, Iniesta was a FIFA World Youth Championship runner-up in the United Arab Emirates, where he was selected as an integral part of the team, and the following year he won the Euro- 19. It was convened for the first time with the absolute on May 15, 2006.
That same year was selected to play the World Cup of Germany, being titular in the third party, against Saudi Arabia. The fate of La Roja, however, was broken shortly afterwards, and Spain fell in the knockout stages against France, in what was to be the last chapter of the so-called “curse of the eighth.” Things, in fact, would change in Euro 2008, held in Austria and Switzerland.
The coach Luis Aragonés had Iniesta to play all the matches. Spain won the final against Germany (1-0) and was proclaimed champion. The flier was chosen as an integral part of the tournament’s best team and best player of the semifinal against Russia.
If his role was decisive in the Euro Cup, it was no less in the Football World Cup held in the Republic of South Africa in the summer of 2010. The selection, which was supported by his European success, began losing the first game, Switzerland.
He then rectified and demonstrated the quality of his players: leaders finished the group stage and then passed all the playoffs.
On 11 July 2010, in the final against Holland, the midfielder Castilian-Manchego scored at the end of extra time (minute 116) to pass of Cesc Fàbregas.
That goal, which a year after the famous goal of Stamford Bridge also came at the right time, gave the title to Spain for the first time in its history and made Iniesta the greatest idol of the fans of the Red.
He still excelled more individually, if possible, in the Euro Cup 2012, held in Ukraine and Poland. The squad began again with a bad footing, drawing 1-1 against the Italian team, but their powerful machinery was greasing as the competition progressed to reach the final, where it coiled with an unusually bulky result (4-0) curiously, the same Italy.
Without scoring a single goal in the whole championship, Iniesta was designated by the UEFA the best player of the match; the federation recognized its high quality and timing of form and the key role that the team had for their passes and their skills as organizer.
Shy and measured, Andres Iniesta is appreciated beyond the traditional rivalries of the fans. He unites the international projection of his football talent with humility and modesty, and, as an exemplary embodiment of the simplicity of rural Spain, he has put his native town, Fuentealbilla, on the map.
Lover of the land and of his friends of always, has there some vineyards to elaborate its own wines and a house in the street that takes its name.
Nor does he know the ingratitude: in 2011 he became the main shareholder of Albacete Balompié, the club that supported him in his beginnings as a footballer, and signed in his benefit a sponsorship contract; the t-shirts of this club now announce their wine company, Bodegas Iniesta.
