Andrés Iniesta has announced his retirement from active soccer at the age of 40. In a review of his career on Cadena Cope, he's confessed what the most difficult moment of his career was.
It was precisely after winning the 2010 World Cup in South Africa that, when things should have been going best, the Spanish team experienced a true ordeal.
The Real Madrid-Barça Rivalry Clouded the Atmosphere of the National Team
The arrival of Jose Mourinho to the Bernabéu bench turned the atmosphere of the national team into a stifling one. Relationships between Real Madrid and Barça have never been worse.
The Portuguese coach set his players against the Barcelona players, who were a majority, and the team blamed him. The atmosphere was no longer the same and was divided into two groups.
Álvaro Arbeloa, Mourinho's extension on the field and ambassador of his statements in the national team, led the anti-Barça movement in the national team.
It was the time when Piqué said of Arbeloa that "he is not my friend, he is just an acquaintance," referring to his role as a substitute for the Real Madrid player in training.
Iniesta remembers that time with bitterness and has settled accounts with Arbeloa, although he hasn't mentioned his name on the Cope radio station.
"It wasn't nice to go to the national team"
"We laughed, but it wasn't a joke. Many of us were in the national team at that time. I don't find it funny to talk about that," he said.
He added: "There was a difficult time for the team because of the situation. It was not pleasant to go because there was no normal atmosphere in the team."
Iniesta concludes: "I don't know if it was sorted out before Euro 2012 but it was a matter of common sense, we were going crazy but in the end everything turned out well."
Guardiola's Barça won almost everything, including the derbies. And the feeling of helplessness that gripped Arbeloa grewbigger.
The derbies ended in violence with rough confrontations by Real Madrid players on their teammates. And Arbeloa led this movement, which culminated in Mourinho's assault on Tito Vilanova.
For Iniesta it was a blot on his record as a soccer player. He had a bad time and he said so.
It won't be easy to forget what Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa did. And it is understandable that the coexistence between them in the national team was difficult.