Alright so I got nostalgic yesterday flipping through old World Cup highlights. That 2010 Spain squad – pure magic right? But I honestly had zero clue where most of them ended up. Thought “Heck, let’s dig into this properly” and ended up spending like three hours deep in the rabbit hole.
Starting The Hunt
First, I grabbed my dusty 2010 sticker album – seriously, those Panini stickers never lie. Listed every single player from that final squad. 23 names total. Then I split them into defenders, midfielders, forwards, and obviously, Captain Iker.
Opened my laptop and just started plugging names into search engines. Social media, club histories, news archives – whatever popped up. Man, some guys just vanished. Had to dig through Spanish sports sites and even local newspaper reports from their hometowns.
Wild Discoveries & Head Scratchers
- Iker Casillas? Still a legend. Heart attack in 2020 shook everyone. He actually tried coaching but quit last year. Basically a royal figure at Real Madrid now.
- David Villa? Went globe-trotting! Japan, USA, even India briefly. Retired in 2020, runs a soccer school in Queens NY. Had no clue!
- Xabi Alonso? Oh man he’s coaching Bayer Leverkusen now. Winning stuff too. Total brainiac on the field still a brainiac off it.
But then… Juan Mata? Still kicking! Signed with Vissel Kobe in Japan last month. My brain couldn’t process that. And Fernando Llorente? Announced retirement last week! Found it buried in a Bilbao news site.
Putting It Together
Started grouping them:
- Coaching Heavyweights: Alonso, Xavi, Busquets (Messi’s buddy at Miami), Piqué (owns a team!)
- Media Stars: Sergio Ramos doing reality TV? Seriously? And Cesc Fabregas pundit for BBC.
- Ghosts: Still can’t find Javi Martinez’s current gig despite 20+ searches. Victor Valdés? Last seen managing a youth team quietly.
Threw everything into a messy table on my Notes app. Color-coded retired/active/coaching. Made coffee, triple-checked spellings (so. many. double surnames). Found Pedro’s Instagram – dude’s chilling at Lazio training photos at age 36!
Final Reality Check
Sat back around midnight. Realized how many ended up coaching. Like… 9 of 23? And only THREE still playing professionally. Felt kinda sad actually. That golden generation… now scattered everywhere. Even found Carles Puyol’s Twitter where he mostly shares environmental stuff?
Anyway. My sticker album’s updated now. Pencil scribbles everywhere. Might share the full table tomorrow. Still can’t believe David Silva runs a vegetable farm in Valencia. Life comes at you fast.