FCBARCELONA.CAT

07.05.2009 22:32

Mr. Andrés, the discreet star

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Andrés Iniesta was the subject of the Barça TV programme "Don Andrés, el crac discret" as he was interviewed about his feelings after such a monumental week for FC Barcelona that saw them beat Real Madrid in the league and Chelsea in Europe.

The day after netting a goal that he will never forget, Iniesta revealed his thoughts on the incredible strike that saw the Blaugrana qualify for their sixth European Cup final, as he spoke to Núria Coll. With Barça having worked so hard for 90 minutes it appeared that Chelsea may just hold out before Iniesta stepped up and struck a superb equaliser that kept the treble dream going. "It was the most special moment of my life," he said. "I cannot explain how happy I was after scoring that goal. It was a moment of pure joy. I have now seen replays of the goal many times and I have never felt such emotions as in that moment before."

"I felt it like the fans did"

Iniesta explained that the best feeling was the sense of joy he had given to the millions of Barcelona fans everywhere: "To see so many people loking so happy is unbelievable," he continued. "To give them so much happiness makes me feel great. I am proud of what I have achieved and I feel like all Barcelona fans do." after receiving hundreds of messages on his mobile and the net, Iniesta was delighted and felt humbled by the support and warmth that he has received. "To everyone that has been telling me I deserve it I just want to say that it was just the reward for a lot of hard work."

"We all scored the goal"

With his usual modesty, Iniesta was not prepared to accept all the merit for his goal. Instead, he chose to praise his team-mates for their role in FC Barcelona's qualification for the Champions League final. "Destiny had led us to that moment. Destiny wanted Valdés to make the save with his foot to deny Drogba a goal, destiny also meant that Tourñe Yaya would have a great game and that the team would recover from the sending off of Éric Abidal when we had to play with ten men for over 20 minutes. That goal was the sum of all that."

The best is yet to come

In the space of a few days, FC Barceona have beaten Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabéu ( 2-6 ) in what was a huge step towards winning the league title and then qualified for the Champions League final in Rome. Iniesta recognised that is has been a great week, but explained that nothing had yet been achieved. "Now the best is yet to come. We are having an incredible season that should make people proud. We are in the Copa del Rey and Champions League finals and the league title is close. But we have to finish it off with trophies. Winning the league on Sunday? That does not depend on us as Real Madrid would have to lose in Mestalla. If we do not win it this weekend then we will have to do so the following one. The most important thing is that we win it."

Happy in Catalunya

Iniesta then wanted to make it clear just how happy he is at Barcelona and in Catalunya and that he has no intention of listening to interest from any other clubs. "I hope that everyone is listening to me now even though I have said this many times. I came here aged 12. Barça and Catalunya have given everything to me and my family. The only thing I want to do now is to dedicate my sporting career to Barça. That is my desire and I hope to see out the rest of my career here." The programme "Don Andrés, el crac discret" will be shown against 10pm on Friday.