50 players to watch at the World Cup - No 30 Andres Iniesta

04 May 2010 06:40
Robbie Blakeley finishes the 30s with an analysis of Barcelona and Spain's midfield maestro.

Name: Andres Iniesta
Age: 25
Club: Barcelona
International Caps: 40
International Goals: 6

Pep Guardiola turned to Xavi in his final days as a Barcelona player and said, "You've finished me, but this guy is going to finish us all."

The 'guy' he was talking about is Andres Iniesta, and Guardiola had a point. Iniesta is yet another product of football's greatest academy at Barcelona, and has formed arguably the world's greatest midfield partnership with Xavi.

With quick feet and an intelligence for the game that you would expect of someone with vastly more experience, Iniesta is almost the complete midfielder.

He instinctively knows when to push forward and when to hold his position, and has a scorcher of a shot on him, as Chelsea found to their peril in the Champions League last year.

He partners Xavi for Spain as well as Barcelona, and the two's telepathic understanding of each other will help catapult the European champions into the latter stages of the tournament.

THE STORY SO FAR...

No 31: Maicon
No 32: Victor Obinna

No 33: Klaas Jan Huntelaar
No 34: Ryan Nelsen

No 35: Tranquilo Barnetta
No 36: Jozy Altidore

No 37: Robert Koren
No 38: Teko Modise
No 39: Simon Kjaer
No 40: Jong Tae-Se
No 41: Nadir Belhadj

No 42: Roque Santa Cruz

No 43: Park Ji-Sung

No 44: Nikola Zigic
No 45: Yaya Toure
No 46: Angelos Charisteas
No 47: Keisuke Honda
No 48: Hugo Lloris
No 49: Mario Gomez
No 50: Guiseppe Rossi


Source: DSG