On Wednesday night Andrés Iniesta was twenty-five years old, in Rome, at his peak, and part of a Barcelona team that was passing rings around Manchester United. This was as good as it gets. So for a second during yet another attack he just rolled the ball around under his foot, as if tickling its belly. In Rome, Iniesta showed his sport the way forward. Iniesta, his teammate Xavi, and Barcelona’s coach, Josep Guardiola, possibly don’t share DNA, but in soccer terms they are brothers. The first brother, Guardiola, emerged twenty years ago as the definitive Barça playmaker: effectively the side’s quarterback, who launched almost every attack with a perfect pass. The second brother, little Xavi, was better. Finally, almost a decade ago, a tiny white-faced teenager showed up at Barça’s training. Guardiola studied Iniesta for a bit, turned to Xavi, and said, “You’ve seen that? You’ll push me towards the exit, but that guy will send us both into retirement.” It took a while.
