Iniesta says coaching is a little more stressful than playing

“Being a coach is a little more stressful than being a player,” Andrés Iniesta says. The former footballer is beginning to experience the game from the bench and feel the responsibility of managing a team after many years as a player. In an interview about his new life, his coaching future, the national team and the Iniesta Experience, he also reflects on the path from Fuentealbilla to fulfilling his dream.

“It’s a beautiful story about a boy from Fuentealbilla who eventually fulfilled his dream of becoming a footballer, with everything you can go through along the way,” he says. He is proud that the boy never gave up, remained professional, and made football his passion and his life. Iniesta says he wanted to prepare for coaching: “I wanted to do this and train for it.” That ambition, he says, continues to motivate him. In October, he is due to begin the final stage of his coaching education, the PRO, completing the process.

Asked whether he would like to manage Barça one day, he says it would be nice, but does not present it as an immediate plan. As a child, he did not dream of becoming a coach; he wanted to be a professional footballer, play for Barça and succeed in the first team. He is enjoying this early stage of coaching, while leaving what comes next to time.

The interview also turns to the national team. Iniesta believes this generation can achieve many good things, and that much of the group could still be playing in six years. He also describes it as spectacular to watch from the stadium, 16 years later, as the national team became world champions again.

The interview coincides with the launch of the Iniesta Experience in Barcelona this Monday. The exhibition traces the former player’s sporting and personal journey, reaching beyond his goals and titles to tell the story of the man behind the footballer. It is housed in the former IMAX del Port Vell cinema. “I hope people like it,” Iniesta says.