Iniesta has seen W.Cup goal ‘a thousand times’

Barcelona star midfielder Andres Iniesta says he has watched his World Cup-winning goal “a thousand times” on television, but it never feels as good as it did on the pitch.

“I watch all my matches many times,” the 26-year-old Barcelona playmaker told the Spanish daily El Pais.

“It helps me to improve. Also, they repeat it a lot. So whether I like it or not, I have seen the goal a thousand times,” said Iniesta, favourite for the 2010 Golden Ball.

“But the sensation on the pitch is unrepeatable,” he added. “Watching it is not the same as scoring it.”

Iniesta swept Spain to a thrilling 1-0 World Cup victory over the Netherlands on July 11 with an unstoppable strike past the goalkeeper from inside the box four minutes from the end of extra-time.

“There is a goal in that final which is personal, very much mine. What bothers me is that I don’t score that many goals and now none of the goals I score will be valued as much as that one.”

Iniesta said he knew the ball was going in the moment he struck it.

“I know the defence won’t get to it, that the goalkeeper won’t get to it… I just have to wait for it to fall, for it to obey Newton’s Law,” he added. “This time the apple was the ball and Newton’s head was my foot.”

It was the first World Cup win for Spain, the winners of the 2008 European Championships.

The television audience in Spain when Iniesta scored was 15.6 million people for a 85.9 percent audience share, making it the most watched television broadcast in Spanish history.