I woke up early to tell you that yesterday I was with two fantastic guys at Radioestadio Noche. Two wonderful people, two great professionals, at two very different times in their lives.
One is Andrés Iniesta. No introduction needed. You could build your story through some fundamental moments and places: Fuentealbilla, La Masía, Guardiola, Stamford Bridge, mental health, South Africa, Japan…
Any Spaniard could be a biographer of Andrés, because we discovered him as a child, with Albacete, and until the goal in Johannesburg we followed his footsteps on the radio. Iniesta was inspired by his football and by his simplicity, by his humanity, also to tell about that dark tunnel into which he entered after the death of his friend Dani Jarque and which he did not know how to explain. To the doctor who listened to him, seeking help, he told him that he thought he was going to die. It was depression. And he surpassed it. And he told it with the same naturalness with which he got rid of his rivals with a feint.
The other was Joaquín Caparrós, historic coach, coached more than 500 games in the First Division, between Sevilla, Athletic, Depor and many others. Caparrós announced in June that he suffers from colon cancer that keeps him busy, between treatments, medication, rest, but it does not prevent him from watching a lot of football.
He doesn’t go to the stadium, he doesn’t set foot in the sports city, but he doesn’t miss a game on television. And listen to a lot of radio. He talks about the disease as a game. And in that metaphor that he constructs to explain his daily life, it is time to defend.
Iniesta and Caparrós, the coach who begins his path and the coach who spreads optimism, even in the worst moments, and who rushes the autumn before the winter arrives. Two examples of football, two examples of life.
