Josep Guardiola Essay

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In the history of soccer, no other coach’s accomplishments can compare to those of Josep Guardiola. Guardiola always had a spirit of leadership. He started his career in Barcelona F.C. as a soccer player. He was the captain of the team and also played as a mid-fielder. Guardiola played for Barcelona F.C. for 11 seasons, during which time they won every soccer title they competed. By the age of 20, Guardiola had already built some great leadership skills. For example, he had tremendous determination and desire to accomplish goals. Guardiola retired from his career as a soccer player on November 15, 2006. In July of the following year, Guardiola was named as the head coach of the secondary team of Barcelona F.C., where he coached players like Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi, among others. On May 8, 2008, he was named the head coach of the main team of Barcelona F.C. In his first season as manager, Barcelona won the treble of “La Liga”, the “Copa del Rey” and the “Champions League”. In doing so, Guardiola became the youngest UEFA Champions League-winning manager ever. The following season, Guardiola and Barcelona won the “Supercopa de España”, the “UEFA Super Cup”, and the “FIFA Club World Cup”, achieving an unprecedented feat in the whole soccer history; he was the first one to win six trophies in six competitions played in one year, thus completing the first ever sextuple (Simon Kuper.) Unquestionably, Guardiola is the best coach in soccer’s history. Simon Kuper, a sports correspondent, conducted research in order to find out just what was making Guardiola so successful. Kuper was surprised to discover that Guardiola’s secret was actually very simple and could apply to any area instead of just soccer. In order to share Guardiola’s secret to success, he first related an important experience between Guardiola and Barcelona’s goalkeeper, Victor Valdes. Valdes
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