20 years for Josep Guardiola
On Thursday, 16th December 2010, the Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola marked his 20th anniversary as a player for the first team of the Catalan Giants. It was on 16th December 1990 that a young Josep Guardiola played as a
midfielder for the Barcelona first team against Cadiz in the Nou Camp.
It was not for the first time that the young Josep Guardiola was playing with the “big boys.” On May 1st 1989, the Spanish midfielder played against Banyoles in a friendly fixture. However, the Barcelona team was made up of reserves and youth
team players. On 16th December 1990, Guillermo Amor injured his left thigh and could not participate against Cadiz, so the first team coach Johan Cryuff decided to play the Spanish youngster Josep Guardiola in the midfield, to give the Spanish youngster
his first break in the Barcelona first team.
It was an extraordinary day for Josep Guardiola. The young Spanish midfielder was only used to performing before a small crowd at the Mini Estadi. However, he was then given a chance to play before 75000 Blaugrana fans. The current Barcelona coach spoke
about his experience when he featured for the first time. He said that the environment in the Nou Camp was simply “fabulous.” He said that before stepping on the field, his palms were sweating and his heart were racing.
Barcelona performed well in that game as they won 2-0 at the Nou Camp. Two goals came from the Barcelona strikers Txiki Begiristain and Jose Mari Bakero. However, the young Barcelona man Josep Guardiola was able to impress his Dutch coach. He held the ball
well in the midfield and passed it on well to help dominate the possession that his team really needed. He got a yellow card in the first half, but despite being under pressure of being red carded in the second, he was able to give out a better performance.
Not only did Josep Guardiola have a phenomenal time while being on the ball, he was doing favors for his team “off-the-ball” as well. He covered the central attacking midfielder of the opposing side in order to retain possession in the danger zones. He was
determined to not let the team down as he was their last hope and that was the basic reason why he was better than almost all the other midfield players. As Barcelona won the game, they went six points clear to the second placed Atletico Madrid and later the
Catalan side – known to be the “Dream Team” back then – were able to win the fourth Spanish La Liga title on the run.
Josep Guardiola was able to play five times in the first team during that season. However, the very next year he was able to play in the first team where he featured 40 times. Later, during the Barcelona golden age he managed to become a key player for the
Catalans and throughout the 90's managed to impress the holding midfielders. Later, he retired from the Catalan club after making 384 appearances.
Josep Guardiola was very happy with the way he performed on the first day. He said that he was happy with the way he played as he helped his side lead the points table with 6 points clear. He also stated that he would love to play again for the first team,
which he actually did go on to do. Later, his manager Johan Cryuff also looked to be impressed by his style of play and stated that he performed as if he always played with them.
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