Josep Guardiola - World's Best Soccer Coach

The name Josep Guardiola I. Sala may not have made much impression on so many people years ago, but today it is the name on the lips of every soccer follower. Success, they say, has many friends. His records at FC Barcelona have brought him fame and recognition.

Guardiola's record has shown that it is not until one has had decades of experience that one could achieve a feat. I am by no means encouraging mediocrity but I wish to say that one should be given an opportunity to prove oneself if there are prospects. Before now Josep Guardiola had not coached any football team except Barcelona team B which he handled between 2007 and 2008.

Coach Josep Guardiola I. Sala was born on the 18th January 1971 in Santpedor, Spain. He rose up to be a defensive midfielder having started his career at about the age of 13. He played for the Spanish U-21 team (1991-92), Spanish U-23 team (1991-92), the national team (1992-2001) scoring 5 goals with 47 caps and Catalonia team (1995-2005) with 7 caps.

He had a very successful club career having played for FC Barcelona (1990-2001), Brescia (2001-2002), Roma (2002-2003), Brescia (2003), Al-Ahli (2003-2005) and Sinaloa (2005-2006) scoring great goals during his campaigns. Apart for playing for clubs he had some individual awards in his playing days which include: Won gold for Spain at the Barcelona 92 Olympics, Olympics Spain best player 1992, won UEFA Champions' league with FC Barcelona in 1991-92, Bravo award 1992, and UEFA All star team 1992 and 2000.

Guardiola's first coaching job was with Barca team B (2007-2008), winning their Tercera Division group and qualified for the 2008 Segunda division B playoffs. He finally became the coach of Barceloa in 2008. In 2008/2009 season he won 6 trophies for his club- Laliga 2008-09, Copa del Rey 2009, SuperCopa de Espana 2009, UEFA Champions' league 2008-09, UEFA Super cup 2009 and FIFA Club World Cup 2009. He won virtually all the titles that were available. I really don't know of any coach that has achieved this great feat; at least not in this decade.

His personal honours as a coach include: IFFHS World's Best club coach of the year 2009, Don Balon Award for Best coach of the year 2009, Onze d'Or for Best European coach 2009, Miguel Munoz trophy for Best Coach of the year 2009, World Soccer award for Best coach of the year 2009, and UEFA team of the year for Best coach of the year 2009. What was left for other coaches to claim? This kind of record is not for a non-experienced coach (as some would want to call him), considering he was barely one year as coach of Barca. Josep Guardiola still keeps adding to his records; he has not lost any match in the Spanish Laliga this season. We all salute you and say more power to your elbow Coach Josep Guardiola I. Sala.