JOSEP GUARDIOLA I SALA

By Xavier Rodríguez

Josep (better known as Pep) Guardiola i Sala was born on January 18th 1971 in Santpedor, Barcelona. Nowadays he is the BFC manager, but he was a football player until 2007. Guardiola played as a defensive midfielder for BFC. He was part of Johan Cruyff's dream team, which won Barcelona's first European Cup. Guardiola also played for Brescia Calcio, A.S. Roma, Al-Ahli and Dorados de Sinaloa. He played as an international player in the Spanish team too.

After retiring as a player, Guardiola became the manager of BFC. On May 8th 2008, Joan Laporta announced that Guardiola would replace Frank Rijkaard as manager of the first team. He signed his contract on June 5th 2008. BFC won the treble in his first season as manager and so Guardiola became the youngest manager to winn the UEFA Champions League. The following season, Guardiola and Barcelona won the Super Cup of Spain against Athletic Club Bilbao, the UEFA Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk, and the FIFA Club World Cup against Estudiantes. BFC, led by Guardiola, won six trophies in six competitions in one year, thus completing the first ever sextuple.