Torres: An Intimate Portrait of the Kid Who Became King

while and in the meantime, the words of his manager, Pep Guardiola, come to mind:
    ‘He’s an example to everyone and above all for the next generation. I always tell them to look at him because he doesn’t wear earrings, he doesn’t change the colour of his hair and he doesn’t have any tattoos. But they all know he’s the best. He plays wherever you put him and he never complains, not even when he’s on the pitch for only twenty minutes. And he always trains well. Iniesta is priceless, tremendous.’
    In the beginning the Spanish press christened him
Andresito
because of his small size. Now he’s become
Don Andrés
and ‘The Sweet’, after ex-Barça manager Frank Rjikaard said ‘on the pitch he gives out sweets’ to describe his way of playing. They’ve called him ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’ of Barcelona. Opposing managers and team-mates consider him a player capable of deciding a match but he himself shuns praise. The physiotherapy session over, he arrives pale-faced and wearing a white jacket, accompanied by Sergi Noguera, the club press officer and introduces himself as follows:
    ‘I was born in Fuentealbilla, a small village in La Mancha, about 25 miles from Albacete. My father, José, was a building worker and my mother worked in a bar with my grandparents. I come from a modest family. I started to play for Albacete and came to Barcelona when I was twelve. In 2003, my parents and my sister moved here too. I consider myself a very normal and straightforward person. I like to do my work well and try to enjoy football.’
    His voice is frail, as is his general appearance, and his shyness is obvious. Andrés Iniesta Luján is not one for long chats. He does, though, gently begin to open up.

Let’s go back to April 2001 and the Under-16 European championship and – I’m sorry to remind you of this – another injury …
     
    ‘It was against Germany. For them it was a must-win game and they came at us full-on. My marker was Mair, a huge, blond midfielder. They wanted to get the ball off us. In the end I had to leave the pitch. These things happen. Nothing more than that. The doctors suspected ruptured knee ligaments but luckily it was only a bruised shin bone and a sprained lateral ligament inside the knee. But my European championship finished there and I came home.’

You left and your team-mates promised to dedicate the goals in the semi-final against Croatia to you.
     
    ‘Yes, Diego León (then in the Real Madrid youth team and now playing for English Championship side, Barnsley) called me the day before the match. He had replaced me and promised that both he and Torres would be wearing my shirt, the Number 8, under their national shirts. I was zapping between the channels at home in Barcelona but couldn’t find any station that was showing the match. I didn’t know that it wasn’t being broadcast in Spain, which was only showing the other semi-final between France and England. I switched off the TV but after the game, my team-mates called from the dressing room so I could share the win with them. I was touched by that and felt that they were really fond of me. They were a fantastic group of players who deserved to get to the final. They told me that Fernando, after scoring the first goal, went past everyone looking for the cameras to show me his dedication. He didn’t know that here (in Spain) I couldn’t see him. In any case, he told me not to worry because he would wear (the shirt) again in the final against France.

And did you get to see the dedication this time?
     
    ‘Yes, of course. Fernando scored the penalty, lifted his shirt and underneath he was wearing a white T-shirt with the words: ‘Para tí, Andrés’ (‘For you, Andrés’). He dedicated the winning goal to me, he dedicated it only to me.’ (Iniesta repeats it over and over again, as if the words bring back the emotional power of that day.)

Why was there this very special relationship?
     
    ‘From when we were sixteen, when we came together in that team, we got on really well. For me, Torres has always been a team-mate with whom I’ve had a great understanding. Each of us has been in our own particular (club) teams and got on with our lives but when we come together in the national side we’ve always understood each other perfectly. Above all on the pitch, because Fernando has always been a player who gets away from his marker well, who has speed. And from my position in the midfield, I’ve tried to