Greatness has followed Iniesta throughout his career and his reputation had already taken on a life of its own by the age of 15-years-old. By impressing the senior coaches at Barcelona, in which he joined the renowned La Masia just four years previous, the young, frail Iniesta was asked to join in the first team’s training session.
Even at the tender age of 15, the young Spaniard didn’t allow his stature, size or clear deficiencies get in the way of showing the senior players what he can do with the ball at his feet. Pep Guardiola, the then-captain of Barça, told 19-year-old Xavi Hernández, “You’re going to retire me [but] this kid is going to retire us all.”
After that training session, Guardiola addressed the group of players and said: “Remember this day - the day you first played with Andrés.”
Quite the compliment.
Many players would be ecstatic with 1/10th of what Iniesta has achieved in the game of football. Now, at 33-years-old,