The sheer divinity of the man, the gall to still want more from himself. No, expect it. The self-belief that rivals that of an all-conquering drug king-pin and the calm demeanour that befits a sage, few in world football operate at the levels of the maestro who is worshipped in Catalonia and lauded around the globe.
And that is inherently what is wrong with this world. This man ought to be worshipped by the entirety of the human race. Postered, plastered all over our cities. Re-name our streets after him.
The Andres Iniesta street – where trespassers are prosecuted. Severely.
But sadly, we’ve seen the last of the most mesmerising footballer of our generation in that fabled blue and red for Barcelona. The Camp Nou has witnessed some of the finest talents in the world, right through their history. The absolute legends of the game that have lit up the historic stadium, night after night, generation after generation.
Names like Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronald Koeman, Pep Guardiola, Johan Cruyff, Xavi Hernandez, Ronaldinho, Messi!
But then… Andres Iniesta. The greatest among them all? I for one have no qualms saying that. Or swearing by it.
In terms of sheer joy that a footballer can provide, every time you watch him manipulate the ball on the pitch, few come close to the magic that this man can conjure up. Out of thin air. No one knows if we’ll ever see another like him, but everyone certainly doubts it.
What is still stranger is that the unflappability of the man’s consistency is at par with his irrefutable talents on the ball. How can the be!
The man who saw gaps when none existed has now left a gaping hole with his departure right in the heart of Catalonia. A third consecutive Champions League title for their bitterest rivals will do little to ease the burden of the loss that Barcelona is currently experiencing.
Over the unfolding history of mankind, we have, time and again, been reminded of our fallible tendencies as humans. Our limitations as humans. The short-comings. Pit-falls.
Yet this man has simply danced his way around these challenges in life almost as easily as he has danced his way around men from all over the globe trying to get the ball off of him.
One of the limitations as humans I alluded to is our failure to learn from our experiences. And how many men do you think have experienced taking the ball off of Iniesta? See, we never learn.