It is impossible to listen to Juan Carlos Unzué and not get excited. His message sinks to the bone, even though he does not want to “convey sadness.” The former Girona coach was diagnosed with ALS during his time in Montilivi – he was dismissed in October 2019 for poor results after 12 days – and since he announced it publicly at a press conference in the Auditorium 1899 of the Camp Nou in June 2020, has been responsible every day to leave his grain of sand in the fight against this neurodegenerative disease. One of his last actions was the visit to the first team of Osasuna to share their impressions of life before facing Villarreal yesterday. One lesson after another, which not only reached the coaching staff and players of Jagoba Arrasate but has transcended thanks to the spread by the club on its social networks.
“What time do you have the flight? I say that because we may not arrive … », said Unzué to break the ice. The Navarrese avoided talking about how hard it is to suffer from ALS (in the video you can see him in a wheelchair and with mobility problems), transmitting all his energy to them. And it is that the exporter of Osasuna, Barça, Seville, Tenerife and Oviedo is pure vitality. Grateful as the most for “having the luxury of talking to the first team players of my land, which gave me the chance to grow as a footballer and turn what was my hobby into my profession”.
Unzué was very clear about his speech. He performed at Tajonar, the venue he debuted in 1982 when he defended the Osasuna shirt, with “two suggestions, a request and a wish.” “I want to encourage you that if at some point you have a weakness or a major problem that you don’t know how to fix, let someone know. Men of my generation have grown up thinking we couldn’t complain, but if you don’t complain how the hell will they help you? There are a lot of people around us who can lend us a hand. In the locker rooms it often happens that the players do not want to leave signs of weakness so that the teammates do not notice, but the one on the side can also be smoky. We spend many hours together and sometimes we don’t know each other, “he said.
The other suggestion was to be “brave and daring.” “It gives me peace of mind to look back and, although they may reproach me for things, to see that I threw myself into the pool when I had a project, whether it turned out well or badly,” he added.
The request of the Girona coach was direct: “When you are ill, remember me.” “Four days ago I was playing, two years ago I was part of a staff and today I’m in a wheelchair,” he said. A reality that is hard, but precisely has “the purpose that serves to say: ‘this is worth it’.”
“And the desire? That you go out to enjoy the training, that you execute the plan that the coach has prepared and that you return from Vila-real with three points, ”he concluded. Those of Arrasate took it to the letter with a victory in the Ceramics (1-2), although the message of Unzué not only has to make reflect to the Osasuna. Everyone can make it a little their own and apply it.
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