Day 24, World Cup 2010: “Iniesta is a genius”

Running right alongside Brazil 2014, this is my day-by-day story of how Spain won the last World Cup. You can catch up on previous posts.

These stories are from Spain: The Inside Story of La Roja’s Historic Treble, by Graham Hunter

Three days until the World Cup semi-final

The morning after the night before, there is always a hangover. Puyol took the ball smack in his face making one block against Paraguay; it was so bad that he temporarily lost full vision. Fàbregas has shoulder damage and will need an X-ray; Ramos took a boot to the head and his eyebrow has been stitched. As for Torres, intuition tells him he is going to be dropped. In fact, he knows it.

Fernando Torres: “There are better and worse times during a tournament and I was never going to make being left out a problem.”

However, away from all these trials, Andrésito Iniesta, a tormented soul just a few weeks ago, is currently the man of the tournament. He was the light in the darkness against Switzerland, creating his team’s best chances. Against Chile he helped create and then score goals of velvet smoothness to win Group H. Iniesta’s darting run and pass produced Villa’s winner against Portugal. Then, when Paraguay resisted for 83 minutes, he danced past three tackles to give Pedro the chance to start the woodwork bonanza which ended with Villa scoring again.

David Villa: “Iniesta is a genius.”

Xavi: “He’s Spain’s best player, no doubt. By a distance. He’s been through so, so much suffering this season and it’s done us all damage to see that. He’s respectful, quiet, a great professional, he’s earned his stripes – it’s just a joy to play with him.”

Back at base, it is back to basics. First-teamers have the day off, but Casillas trains. The night session is mostly based around intense, small-sided matches aimed at keeping those who have the fewest competitive minutes sharp, thinking quickly, fleet of foot and with a feeling that their moment might be just about to arrive.

In Pedro’s case, it is.

Read Next Day 23, World Cup 2010: Paraguay 0 Spain 1 Read Next Day 25, World Cup 2010: Pulpo Paul