Andres Iniesta had a good life as a star player at Barcelona, he was wealthy, he has lots of fans but that didn’t stop him from suffering depression. He played for Barcelona Fc from 2001 until 2018 and he also played for Spain national team from 2006 until 2018. He appeared in 442 matches for Barcelona and scored 35 goals.
Andres Iniesta revealed that he battled depression while playing for Barcelona in a documentary titled Andres Iniesta – The Unexpected Hero’ which he recorded with Rakuten TV.
During the Documentary, Andres said that he battled a bad injury after winning the Champions League under Pep Guardiola in the year 2009 then he also lost a friend, Dani Jargue who died after suffering a heart attack. Dani Jarque was a defender for Espanyol. These two occurrences caused him to feel depressed.
According to Iniesta, the day passed and he wasn’t getting better, and he didn’t feel like himself.
“The days pass and you realize you’re not improving, you don’t feel good, you’re not yourself. Everything clouds over and goes dark,” Iniesta told Rakuten TV.
While addressing Jarque’s death, he said, “That was like a body blow, something powerful that knocked me down again and I was pretty low, clearly because I wasn’t very well.”
Iniesta’s mother Maria Lujan and father Jose Antonio testified to his sickness. His mom said, “I noticed he wasn’t well one night when we were sleeping downstairs and he came down and said, ‘mum can I sleep here with you?
His father, Jose Antonio added that “Our 25-year-old son coming down at midnight and wanting to sleep with his parents means he can’t be well. He said, ‘I’m not well dad’. I said, ‘what’s wrong?’ ‘I don’t know, I don’t feel well.’”
“At one stage I thought he would have to stop because the most important thing was him,” his father added.
Iniesta was arranged to have a therapy session with psychologist Inma Puig. When asked about Iniesta’s recovery, Psychologist Inma said that Iniesta’s recovery owed much to those around him, including Pep.
“Guardiola said this is the first time I’ve been in this situation as a coach,” “I remember he said, ‘the most important thing now is Andres, the person not the player’,” Inma added.
“Guardiola tried to get him out of that bottomless pit he was in,” Iniesta’s mother Marian said.
Iniesta’s Trophies
- 9 La Liga titles
- 4 Champions Leagues with Barcelona.
- World Cup with Spain in 2010
Andres Iniesta later left Barcelona to join a team in Japan. He left to play for Japanese club Vissel Kobe
When asked about his move away from Barcelona, Iniesta said
“People at the club never imagined I could leave, it’s like everything, in relationships if you don’t discuss things at the right time there comes a time when there’s no way back.”
About Andres Iniesta
| Andre Iniesta’s Name : | Andrés Iniesta Luján |
|---|---|
| Player agent: | Sports&Life (- Albacete Balompi) |
| Current club: | Vissel Kobe |
| Joined: | Jul 1, 2018 |
| Contract expires: | 31.01.2021 |
