After UEFA named him the best player in Europe, Iniesta spoke about “a feeling that I share with my colleagues, both at the club and national team”
Leo Messi: “Iniesta deserves the prize. I am happy because he achieved some very important things”
Title to be offered to Camp Nou
As is traditional in such cases, Andrés Iniesta will be offering his UEFA Best Player in Europe award to the home supporters during the build-up to the Barça v Valencia match on Sunday at the Camp Nou. Also, the Barça ladies team will be parading their own trophies for winning the Superliga Femenina and the Copa Catalunya.
After being named MVP of Euro 2012, Andrés Iniesta gained further international recognition on Thursday evening. UEFA named him the best player in European football of the 2011/12 season. In an interview with UEFA media, the Barça midfielder repeated the message he had just made inside the Grimaldi Forum. “I am happy with this recognition. I have always said that individual recognitions never stop being team recognitions. That is a feeling that I share with my colleagues, both at the club and in the national team”.
Andrés Iniesta considers the award to be “recognition for a job well done” and places emphasis on “people being proud of what I have achieved”. He had been up against fellow nominees Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who both scored an extraordinary amount of goals last season. “Those two players are above everything. They have beaten all kinds of records” he said.
Leo Messi happy for his friend
Leo Messi, who won the award last year, was delighted to see his team-mate win this time round. “He deserves it. I’m happy for him because he has achieved some very important things” said the Argentinian. “He has been among the top 3 or 4 nominees for a long time … He is a team-mate and a friend. He thanked all of his colleagues for helping him to win the award”.
In the 2011/12 season, Iniesta and Messi both helped the club to glory in the Spanish Supercup, the European Supercup, the Clubs World Cup and the Copa del Rey. The last of the four, won at the Vicente Calderón, was one of the few titles that Iniesta had never truly won, for he missed the Valencia 2009 final though injury. And in addition to the titles he won with Barça, Iniesta also won his second European Championship in 2012, and despite not scoring any goals in the tournament, was named MVP on the back some absolutely tremendous football in midfield.