Iniesta’s story is one of a player who never gives up. Despite an injury marred 2010, Iniesta came into the South African World Cup in top form and his winning goal and celebration just showed what an honest player he is.
1 January: Iniesta is given the medical all clear after picking up an injury in the final of the World Club Cup on December 16th 2009.

19 January: Sets a record of 17 months without losing with Barça whenever he is in the team.

6 February: Still only 25, Iniesta makes his 200th league appearance – a 2-1 win against Getafe.

20 February: Gets his first goal of the season in his 300th game for the club, as Barça run out 400 winners over Racing.

27 March: During the 0-1 win over Mallorca, Iniesta suffers a small tear in his right thigh.

5 April: Again given the all clear to play by club doctors.

13 April: Suffers another muscle tear in training.

16 May: Iniesta re-appears as Barça lift their 20th La Liga title with a 4-0 win over Valladolid.

20 May: Vicente del Bosque names him in the Spanish squad for South Africa.

8 June: Suffers another muscle strain during the friendly between Spain and Poland, but is passed fit for the start of the World Cup.

16 June: Swiss full back Lichtsteiner hits him with a bad tackle that sees him limp off a Spain go down 0-1.

21 June: Misses Spain’s 2.0 win over Honduras.

25 June: Iniesta hits top form as he and Villa both score in the 1-2 win over Chile that sees Spain through to the knock out stage.

29 June: Iniesta, Xavi and Villa combine for the only goal against Portugal that send s Spain into the quarter finals.

3 July: Once again sets up the winning goal on the win against Paraguay.

7 July: With Iniesta playing all 90 minutes, Spain reach their first World Cup Final.

11 July: Iniesta’s greatest moment as he scores the winner to bring the World Cup back to Spain with an injury time strike. His celebration involves showing his T-shirt on which is written a dedication to the much missed Espanyol captain Dani Jarque - ‘Dani Jarque, siempre con nosotros’.

12 July: Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero pays special praise to Iniesta before the team begin their celebratory parade through the streets of Madrid: “if the captain and the rest of the players will let me, I’d like to especially congratulate a person who represents like nobody else, the essence of good football and human quality. There is no better reference point for us than Iniesta. Thank you Andres for remembering Dani on such an unforgettable day”.

9 August: Iniesta, the only World Cup winner not called up for Spain’s friendly with Mexico, begins the pre-season with Barça, after just 29 days of holiday.

21 August: Plays his first game of the 2010/11 season, as the team come back from their first
leg defeat to beat Seville 4-0 in the second leg to take the Spanish Super Cup.

29 August: First league game and first goal of the season for Iniesta as he makes it 0-2 with a great goal in the 0-3 win against Racing Santander.

16 October: Another goal starts the comeback against Valencia (2-1).

11 November: Four months after his goal, Iniesta presents his T-shirt with his message to Dani Jarque to Espanyol in a wonderful gesture of solidarity.

20 November: Iniesta gets the second goal in Barça’s 0-8 win over Almeria. When Iniesta is free from injuries, nobody can stop him!

29 November: He sets up Xavi for Barça’s opening in the demolition of Real Madrid.

6 December: Iniesta is named amongst the three candidates for the FIFA Pilota d’Or. So far, he has played in every league game of the season.

Xavi Hernandez is Barça’s and Spain’s man in charge on the pitch, dictating the game with his brilliant passing and possession. It’s been a great year for the Catalan and below are some of the highlights.
13 January: The IFFHS names Xavi as the best midfield playmaker in the world for 2009.

13 January: A few hours later, a brilliant strike from Xavi wasn’t quite enough to avoid Barça being knocked out of the Spanish up by Seville.

23 January: Scores the opening goal in the 0-3 win over Valladolid.

6 February: Xavi scores again, this time in the 2-1 win over Getafe after the team had played with 10 men for more than half of the game.

15 February: Suffers a muscle injury in his right leg.

23 February: Xavi is back for the 1-1 draw in the first leg of the game against Stuttgart in the Champions League.

25 February: The Ajuntament de Terrassa, Xavi’s hometown Council, awards him the Medal of Honour of the City.

14 March: With the 3-0 win against Valencia, Xavi equals Migueli’s record of wins with the team -195- whilst playing 49 fewer games.

17 March: Xavi suffers another muscle injury and misses the second leg against Stuttgart(4-0)

27 March: Comes on for 30 minutes in Mallorca(0-1).

31 March: Xavi leads the team in one of their best performances of the season, the 2-2 draw with Arsenal, setting up Ibra’s second goal.

8 April: Xavi receives the Terrassa Medal of Honour.

10 April: Another exhibition at the Bernabeu where he sets up both Barça’s goals from Pedro and Messi in the 0-2 win.

17 April: Plays in his 10th derby game in the goalless draw at Cornellà-El Prat .

24 April: The 3-1 win against Xerez is Xavi’s 200th La Liga victory.

1 May: A brilliant free kick gives Barça their second goal in the 1-4 defeat of Villarreal and marks a massive step towards retaining the league title.

8 May: Xavi sees his fifth yellow in the 2-3 win at Seville and is suspended for the final league game against Valladolid.
16 May: The win in the final game gives Xavi his fifth league title – only Ramallets and Guardiola, with six, have won more.



20 May: Vicente del Bosque names him in the Spain squad for South Africa.

9 June: Barça and Xavi agree a contract extension until 2014 and possibly 2016. “I want to retire here”, he declares.

16 June: Plays full 90 minutes in shock defeat to Switzerland.

21 June: Plays 65 minutes in the win over Honduras (2-0).

25 June: Xavi leads Spain to 2-1 win over Chile to seal place in the knock out stages.

29 June: A lovely ball to Villa sets up the Spain striker for the only goal on the win over Portugal. Xavi is voted man of the match by FIFA.

3 July: Spain get through to the semis by beating Paraguay 1-0.

7 July: Xavi sends over the corner that Puyol heads home to book a place in the World Cup Final. The goal is a carbon copy of the 1-2 at the Bernabeu in the 2-6 win. Is again voted man of the match.

11 July: Leads Spain’s final win, playing the full 120 minutes in the 1-0 win over Holland.

12 July: Xavi finishes the 2010/11 season with an astonishing 63 games played.

12 August: With his summer holidays over, Xavi joins up with the squad for pre-season training.

16 August: Together with Valdés, Piqué and Messi, he is named as one of the 12 players selected for the UEFA awards.

18 August: Marks 12 years since his debut with the first team against Mallorca.

21 August: Makes his season debut by winning another title, the Spanish Super Cup, as the team come back from a 3-1 first leg defeat to beat Seville 4-0 at the Nou Camp.

25 September: Scores in the 1-3 win at San Mames.

1 October: Suffers an Achilles tendon injury which keeps him out of the next few games.

5 October: Wins the first edition of the Catalan Sports Prize.

6 October: Xavi again received honours from the Ajuntament de Terrassa.

16 October: A brilliant one-two with Iniesta equalises in the 2-1 win over Valencia.

22 October: Xavi misses the game in Zaragoza and is the club’s representative in picking up the Premio Príncepes d’Astúries as part of the Spain team.

29 November: Scores the opening goal and dictates play throughout in Barça’s 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid.

6 December: Xavi is named as one of the three candidates for the FIFA Pilota d’Or.

Pep Guardiola has been chosen by FIFA and France Football as a candidate for the 2010 Manager of the Year award, alongside Vicente del Bosque and José Mourinho.
As well as the unprecedented success of the three Masia trained candidates for the Player of the Year award , Barça also received recognition in the manager’s category, with Guardiola joining Spain’s Vicente del Bosque and ex-Inter boss José Mourinho, now at Real Madrid.

Ambition

After the historic 2009 that saw Barça lift six titles, Guardiola showed himself more than capable of maintaining the team’s level with an ambitious and winning group of players who took the Spanish Super Cup and the Spanish League with a stunning 99 points, to make it 8 out of a possible 10 titles won over two seasons.

More recognition

This is the first time that FIFA and France Football have made a Manager of the Year award, but since taking over at the club in the summer of 2008, Guardiola has already taken the Miguel Muñoz award given to the best Spanish manager in 2009 and 2010, the Premi Don Balón 2009, Onze d’Or 2009 and been voted the best manager of 2009 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).

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