Andrés Iniesta Luján, born May 11, 1984, is a Spanish football player who is currently playing for FC Barcelona. The Spanish talent, has often been referred to as “el Cerebro” (the Brain) due to his intelligence on the pitch, and “el Illusionista” (the Illusionist), though Don Andres remains one of the most famous nicknames for the playmaker.
The 29-year-old is the classic creative midfielder, who will cause holes in most defenses, by fluctuating in the smallest pockets of space. He is very comfortable on the ball and his vision allows him to make incredibly accurate one-touch passes in the tiniest of space. Although Iniesta is not the fastest player, he is extremely quick on the ball and can dribble with incredible ease. With Spain, el Cerebro made 18 appearances this year and allowed his national team to reach qualification for the 2014 World Cup early, as usual.
After scoring the match-goal against Netherlands, Don Andres lifts the World Cup
Iniesta played almost the entirety of his career with Barcelona, which he joined in 1996 at the age of 12. He quickly rose through the academy and debuted with the first team in 2002. Similarly, with Spain Don Andres has jumped from the U15 team into the adult team in 6 years, where he was called in 2006. Since then, Spain won two European Championships and one World Cup in 2010, where he scored the decisive goal in the final against Netherlands. The Spanish playmaker was nominated 5 times in FIFA’s World XI and would have won the Balon D’Or multiple times had he not existed at the same time as Messi. Moreover, he was one of the most important players in 2009 when the Catalans won an astonishing six trophies in one season. That year he scored the match-winner against Chelsea to secure Barca’s final in the Champions league.
Iniesta celebrates the goal that secured Barcelona's UCL final against Chelsea
During the last campaign, despite Barca not playing as brilliantly as they have gotten their audience used to, el Illusionista still had a rather prolific season. The talented midfielder renewed with the Blaugrana until 2018 and will likely go back to the incredibly high standards that he is used to, likely starting this Summer in Brazil, where Iniesta and Spain could continue making history by winning the fourth consecutive international trophy.
Even legends like Zizou cannot compare to the Spanish master
