“There are false things, like the pre-contract with Madrid”

He announced on Tuesday that he is no longer an active player, but in no way is he leaving football. In this interview, the legendary player remembers unknown teammates.

The day after announcing his retirement from the playing fields, Andrés Iniesta receives AS in a hotel in Barcelona. Happy and overwhelmed by the love received, he reviews the sensations of the last few hours, some of the moments of his career and his future plans.

Have you woken up this morning and thought, “I’m already a former player”?

I woke up like every day. It hasn’t happened from one day to the next. It has been a mental process of getting used to the idea. I woke up happy and happy to see what happened on Tuesday.

Speaking of getting up, at Tuesday’s event when he announced his farewell, he commented with our mutual friend Luis Martín that you have been playing until you were 40 years old. From your own experience, doesn’t everything hurt every morning when you wake up?

Yes man, of course. Things are already starting to hurt when I get up. It cost more and more. As you complete, it is more difficult to recover after the games.

How many times before this did you think about retirement?

This was the first time and the definitive one. Until now I had not visualized it. Since I went to Japan I was aware that it was the last step and then with the Emirates. I already had in mind to look for other things and start with the title of coach. I could have continued playing, but what fulfills me is to leave it and visualize other things.

What did you learn in Japan other than that sushi is tastier and some words?

The sushi here is also good, but there it is something else and in Japanese I know how to say phrases, but I couldn’t hold a conversation. What caught my attention the most is the competitiveness and organization.

Well, there’s another president there. It is a very square style. The fans have enormous respect for football.

Looking back, what was the name of the good guy you shared a team with in youth football and who didn’t reach the top like you?

I arrived with a very good 12-year-old boy from Extremadura named Jorge Troiteiro. That was the good thing about that farm.

As a midfielder, left-footed, technically a phenomenon. He even played on a professional team. But there have been many. It seems that getting there is just winning the World Cup, there are many who fall by the wayside. To reach the elite you need many things.

Is the coconut the most important of all?

The coconut, the environment, everything.

You had the courage to talk about depression. Did it affect you when you arrived so young from Fuentealbilla to Barcelona?

Of course it affected. I had a bad time and that later takes its toll on you in one way or another. The first night I called home crying and if my mother doesn’t stop by my father who was going to take the car and come back to look for me, I don’t know where I would be.

Has the taboo of mental illness in sports been broken with your case or that of Simone Biles?

It may be, but the difference is that now there are more means to treat, detect and help them. I went out for help that didn’t exist before. You have to let yourself be helped.

Let’s go back to football, what did you play when you were little?

We played a 3-4-3 and I played in all positions of the diamond. Interior and pivot.

There I went. The thing is that beyond the games that everyone remembers about you (World Cup, Chelsea, Cup final) I was excited to see you on the Milan field playing as a defensive midfielder.

I didn’t do it from the quarry. I played there against Benfica too, but that day was spectacular.

Man, if you want I’ll put it in so it doesn’t sound so bad, although I absolutely agree.

That day I had Gattuso and Seedorf in front of me. Edmilson and Márquez were the starters in that position and did not play. Then Edmilson, instead, played in the Paris final as a starter and I didn’t and they put Van Bommel.

Well, thank goodness he came out for the break. To have killed us.

Final in Rome, how do you play a game injured knowing that you can’t shoot?

There was a risk that if I shot, I would break. But he had not been a starter in Paris. I played there whatever, even if I was doing something crazy. With running, sprinting and passing, he could play. But I ended up shooting at the end of the game.

And if I broke, nothing would happen. A crazy thing that turned out well.

They say that Pedri is the closest thing to you, but what do you think of Aitana Bonmatí?

Yes, I remember. I’ve seen it a lot and it’s like that. I followed the example of Laudrup and Guardiola. There are similarities. Barça’s system helps.

Does the women’s Barça remind you of anything?

I see them a lot and the selection too. They win everything and sweep it, they have a great team.

Have you played soccer again?

Will he be one of those players who will never play with the Legends again?

Yes, yes, I will play with the Legends. Every once in a while a game, to pass some time.

In Barça’s, I imagine

It’s just to make it clear to Roncero, who doesn’t get over it, are you from Madrid?

No, emphatically. Things have been said that are not true, such as if he had signed pre-contracts. Let them get over it.