Iniesta's epic goal tribute to fallen pal

JOHANNESBURG – Andres Iniesta will always be remembered for the goal that gave Spain its first World Cup title. And in that moment, Iniesta remembered his former teammate Daniel Jarque.

After scoring the winning goal with four minutes remaining in extra time of Sunday’s final, Iniesta took off his blue Spain jersey to reveal a white T-shirt bearing the words, “Dani Jarque: siempre con nosotros” – “Dani Jarque: always with us.”

Jarque collapsed and died at the age of 26 on a preseason tour of Italy last year, one month after being named captain of Espanyol.

Iniesta and Jarque were teammates on Spain’s under-17, under-19, under-20 and under-21 teams.

“I wanted to carry Dani with me,” Iniesta said after picking up his man of the match award. “We wanted to pay tribute to him and we thought it was the best opportunity to do so.”

Iniesta was given a yellow card for the gesture – the rule when players remove their jerseys – but that was a small price to pay.

Iniesta, his ghostly pale face shining on the dark South African night, had just blasted a shot across Netherlands goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg and in at the far post.

“I can’t quite believe it yet,” the 26-year-old Barcelona midfielder said. “I had the opportunity to score that goal which was so important to my team. It’s something absolutely incredible. I simply made a small contribution to my team.”

Moments after explaining his tribute to Jarque, teammates Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol burst into the news conference room with beers in hand and started chanting, “You’re the best, you’re the best” at Iniesta, who broke into a wide smile.

One of the creative midfielders who inspires Spain’s attack, Iniesta arrived in South Africa struggling from an injury-plagued season. But he proved to be one of the keys to victory as his second goal of the tournament delivered Spain from a challenging game of few chances.

The goal might even make Iniesta’s popularity in Spain challenge that of Paul the octopus – the tentacled oracle that successfully predicted the winner of eight World Cup matches, including Spain’s final two games in South Africa, not to mention the 2008 European Championship title match the Iberians won over Germany.                (AP)