Johannesburg, July 12: Contrary to his boy-next-door charms Andres Iniesta has a penchant for the spectacular. The 26-year-old twinkle-toed Barcelona midfielder sent Chelsea out of the Champions League last year with a 93rd minute goal of sublime beauty. On Sunday, the unassuming wizard left it even later, scoring the most important goal of his career in the 116th minute.
He was hacked by the stifling tackles of Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong, yet he got up every single time. He wasn’t given an inch of space, and yet, when it mattered the most he broke free to score the goal that helped Spain permanently shed their reputation as chokers on the big stage. Seventy six years of World Cup heartache gone quicker than you can say Tiki-Taka.
How did he choose to celebrate this grand moment? Suck on his thumb to show its all child’s play a la Francesco Totti? Lap up the applause with the confident air of Eric Cantona? Break into a celebratory jive a la his former Barcelona teammate Ronaldinho? No, instead he chose this grand moment to pay homage to his former Spain U-21 teammate Dani Jarque who succumbed to an heart-attack last year at the age of 26.
Iniesta took off his jersey and the message on his vest read, “Dani Jarque siempre con nosotros” (Dani Jarque always with us). “I wanted to carry Dani Jarque with me and with my other teammates. We wanted to pay tribute to him in the world of football, and this was the best opportunity to do so,” Iniesta said after the match.
And, boy did he ever.
First, Iniesta combined with teammate Xavi to beat the offside trap with a trademark flurry of quick passes that left Holland defender John Heitinga with no option to bring him down and the referee with no option but to send the Dutchman back to the dressing room.
Then with time winding down he cropped up on the right side of the penalty box to finish off a move which he set forth with an exquisite back heel. “It’s unbelievable, incredible,” he said later. “It took a lot of energy. To win a World Cup is an indescribable feeling.”
Iniesta is nicknamed The Illusionist because of his uncanny ability to pop up anywhere in the field and perform magic which needs to be seen to be understood, to be believed. Sunday night was no illusion. This was the real deal.