Josep Guardiola

Josep "Pep" Guardiola i Sala was born 18 January 1971 in Santpedor, Spain. He is a football (soccer) player.

Related Topics:
18 January - 1971 - Spain - Football (soccer)

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HEIGHT: 183 cm

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WEIGHT: 73 kg

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POSITION: Midfielder

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DEBUT: 16 December 1990

Related Topics:
16 December - 1990

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CLUBS: Gimnastic Manresa, FC Barcelona B (1984), FC Barcelona (1990-2001), Brescia (2001-02, 2003)), As Roma (2002-03), Al Ahly (2003-04)

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Guardiola was groomed to run the Barcelona side shortly after joining the youth ranks of the club.

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After being handed his debut by Johan Cruyff in 1990 he went on to become the metronome of the immensely talented and successful Dream Team that won the European Cup in 1992 and four successiveSpanish league titles.

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For Cruyff, he played just in front of the back four, linking the play between Ronald Koeman at the back, through to Michael Laudrup and Hristo Stoichkov further forward. Cruyff gave him the first chance to show his talent and he immediately became one of the most important parts of the "Dream Team" being the brain, the soul and the mouth of Barça; by the age of 20 he was the undisputed leader of Barça.

Related Topics:
Cruyff - Ronald Koeman - Hristo Stoichkov

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He is a great organiser, he distributes the play, keeps hold of the ball and shows the face of the team both in the good and bad situations.

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Later in his Barca career, he was the player who supplied the passes for devastating Brazilian forward Romario. Between them the two had a system of signals worked out so Guardiola would know when, and exactly where, to supply the pass.

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He also played alongside Ronaldo in his single year at the Nou Camp and under Louis van Gaal he was the key component in the Dutch coach's ultimately doomed attempts to play his own unique brand of total football.

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He's always been a charismatic player even when, during 97-98 season, he got injured for almost a year and couldn't play the World Cup.

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He won a total of six league titles with Barcelona, as well as the European Cup Winners' Cup, two Spanish Cups, two European Super Cups and four Spanish Super Cups.

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The highlight of his career was in 1992, though, when he helped Barcelona to the European Cup and then guided Spain to the gold medal in his home town Olympics.

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YEAR BY YEAR

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1990: Pep made his debut in the Liga, on 16 February against Cádiz.

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1991: Cruyff's arrival was fundamental for Pep's career. He learned and, most of all, he played.

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1992: On 8 August he won the gold title with Spain at the Camp Nou in front of his audience. And he also scored a goal during the final match.

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1993: He made his debut with Spain in Ireland and every coach has always counted on him since that moment.

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1994: During this season, he played 37 matches and it was one of the most important season for him.

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1995: Goal had never been one of his attitudes, he scored a total of 4 goals in the Liga and during this season, he scored 2 of them.

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1996: He had always been a charismatic player and during the derbies he showed everything he can.

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1997: With Van Gaal's arrival, Pep got the captain bracelet.

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1998: He added his 5th Liga title to an amazing palmares: 11 national titles, 4 europeans titles and an olympic gold.

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1999: Things change: from a sure player in the field, he became someone more sat on the bench.

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2000: After having played the Euros 2000, he was injured on 31 August. On 28 December, his 1st daughter, Maria, was born.

Related Topics:
31 August - 28 December

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2001: In April, he decided to leave Barcelona and Barça, it was a sad day for all the culés. On 26 September, he signed a one-year contract with Brescia. On November 22, he was diqualified for testing positive to 2 doping controls he recieved a four month ban.

Related Topics:
26 September - November 22

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2002: Pep's stay in Italy was not what he expected but his aim is to be part of Spain National Team at the World Cup and he kept fighting and affirming his innocence. On March 22, his sanction ended and 2 days later, he played his fifth match for Brescia.

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After being injured and being obliged to avoid the World Cup, Pep decided to leave Brescia and signed a one-year contract for As Roma.

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2003: After a disappointing stay at As Roma for a few months he went back to Brescia. In January his second child, Marius was born. In June he decided to join Bassat's team for Barça presidency but unfortunately they didn't win the elections. Pep signed a one-year contract with Qatari team Al Ahly.

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2004-2005: Things went well for Pep and he enjoyed things in Doha. He played for Al Alhy (Qatar).

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