The ghosts of Iniesta awakened by the coronavirus. "Every time I see a photo of a game or a full stadium, I feel desperate," confessed Don Andres to the Guardian. The Spanish champion, ex Barcelona star to win, is spending difficult days in his home in Kobe, Japan, where he has lived since he left Barcelona who consecrated him as one of the greatest players of all time. The field is far away, and he is suffering. Days of restlessness and unnerving waiting, and in the background the never-erased memory of when the pain of living pushed him into the abyss of depression. A distant and outdated time. But who seems to want to knock on his door again.
The coronavirus and the consequent blockade of the championship threw havoc in the second sporting life of Iniesta, world and European champion with Spain, a brilliant player on the rectangle of play, both shy in character and loved by football fans. Now he plays in the Vissel Kobe, a serene viaticum before the farewell to the competitive activity, but this year the championship did not have time to start on February 21st that the 25th was stopped due to Covid-19. Since then, 55 days between waiting and continuous postponements. And so the ghosts of anguish have started wandering around the parts of the champion, who does not know how to stay away from the field, and he sees himself stolen from his fate unrepeatable remnants of career and prowess. Even more uncertain weighs on when and how he will resume playing.
Iniesta admits her unease: "We had to leave on March 15, then March 29, then May 6, now May 9. But who knows? And this in a country that is a model of pandemic management, one in which, fortunately, the situation seems to be under control ". Imagine what can happen elsewhere, Iniesta does not say, but thinks it.
Since the pandemic broke out, the Spanish champion has been living in his home in Kobe with his wife and four children, the last of whom is only a few months old. It hardly ever comes out, even if it could: the news from Spain "affects us", he says. So do gymnastics at home and wait. "There will be a before and after coronavirus," he comments, dreaming of the day when he can play again.
If the Japan League really resumes in the first half of May, Iniesta will have already celebrated 36 years (he turns them on 11 May). It could be a watershed, perhaps the time to look closely at retirement and start thinking about the future as a technician. He doesn't mind thinking about himself as a coach tomorrow, but he doesn't want to leave football played. Indeed, "all this time without playing gives me the energy to last longer," he says, recalling that he has a contract with Vissel Kobe until 2021. He intends to honor. "I feel good, I am motivated, I want to continue playing, I am happy to be here."
"Since the beginning of the pandemic - Iniesta observes - the schools have been closed, the mass events canceled. The use of the mask and the hygiene precautions are normal here and this has contributed to reducing the spread of the virus. Now we are just waiting , staying at home, going out as little as possible. In the short and medium term, the virus is destined to have a social and economic impact at all levels. Football is part of society, it cannot escape. This will have an impact; there will be measures that will always remain, changes, a before and after. We must try to get the best out of a terrible situation. Nothing will be as before. "