BARCELONA – Juan Carlos Unzué, former goalkeeper among others of Barcelona and who after being an assistant to Rijkaard and Luis Enrique in the Barça team was also a coach for Celta or Girona, announced on Tuesday that he suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ELA.
“I want to make public that in February they confirmed the diagnosis they gave me last summer. I have ELA. It is affecting my limbs asymmetrically, my hands, arms and legs. Today there is no cure or treatment, “explained Unzué calmly and in a speech full of optimism, who was accompanied at his press appearance, held at Barcelona facilities, by friends such as Luis Enrique, Eusebio or Puyol as well as members from the first squad like Piqué, Busquets, Jordi Alba or Sergi Roberto.
“This is your house and you have all our support for what you need,” Josep Maria Bartomeu, Barça president, asked him publicly. “My goal now is not going to be training. I sign for a modest but very committed team, that of ALS patients, “said the former sportsman, during the act, very emotional, and in which he claimed to feel” mentally strong to experience this disease. I’ve thought about what I can do about ALS or these diseases, which seem invisible but are there. Anyone can get them ”.
“My coach stage is over … After these months when I have been able to perceive the low visibility of ELA and the few possibilities of patients and the lack of resources, my goal is not going to be training,” he said, recalling to “some of the four thousand people who have been references for me. They have made clear to me the capacity of the human being to adapt and overcome situations. And he wants to continue living despite the difficulties. Because life is worth it. “
“Experience tells me that in cases like this, the weak should pull the one who is stronger. And in situations that I have lived in this locker room we have seen that it has been so, “said Unzué, who closed by proclaiming that you must” enjoy what is essential, which for me is having the privilege that we have awakened. That is the most important. I have also done it to send a big hug to people who have lost someone during the pandemic. “
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