The talk that Juan Carlos Unzué did this Saturday to the staff of Osasuna a few hours after facing Villarreal, she reached the marrow of everyone who listened to her. The Navarrese club disseminated through its social networks the nine minutes 34 seconds of the video of the visit to the Tajonar facilities that starred the legendary former goalkeeper, who at 54 years of age is giving a lesson in life and a positive attitude towards the disease he suffers from in July 2019, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (IS IT OVER THERE). At the request of the Osasuna technician, Jagoba Arrasate, Unzué signed a ‘speach’ that should be passed even in schools to face with the best possible spirit any obstacle that appears throughout life. Arrasate, who acted as host, introduced his illustrious guest as “someone who is more Osasunist than anyone else and who will help us to put his life lessons down”. “The word is yours, that you are also good at,” concluded Arrasate.
The former goalkeeper gave an exemplary talk
During his speech, which he made in a gym in the Sports City of Osasuna sitting in a wheelchair, Unzué seized the attention of all the members of the red squad with a message brimming with energy. “My request is that when a defeat appears, a bad day and you have the feeling that you cannot take it anymore, remember me. I was playing like you four days ago, two days ago I was part of a staff and today I am in a wheelchair. May this serve you as something positive. Remember that you are healthy and you can work in something that you like. Remember, “he stressed.
Always with a smile on his lips, the former goalkeeper of Osasuna, Barça and Sevilla and former member of the technical staff of the Barça club among other teams, left humorous, motivational, emotional and never tearful moments during his talk. “The fucking thing is this afternoon’s flight! … We still didn’t arrive,” he began jokingly. “This is the team from my hometown, the one that gave me the opportunity to grow and turn my ‘hobby’ into my profession. The one that gave me the privilege of inaugurating Tajonar in 1982, when I signed for Osasuna. And it is no coincidence that This is where I came from, then Unanua, then López Vallejo and many others … “, he recalled. “I do not want to tell you anything about my illness. I do not want to convey sadness. I want to convey just the opposite. There are many reasons to enjoy life, despite having a bastard disease,” he emphasized. He then urged the staff to be permanently optimistic. “I leave you a request and a wish. The suggestion is to encourage you to let someone know if at any given moment you have a weakness. We all have someone we trust to say ‘I have a problem’. Because, if you don’t complain How the hell are they going to help you? In the locker room no one wants to show weakness, when sometimes the partner next to you also has a problem and is screwed. It is very important that you are brave and daring. It gives me a lot of peace to look back and have the feeling that, although I can reproach myself for many things, I have been a goalkeeper, a coach, an assistant coach and whenever I have wanted to do something I have thrown myself into the pool. All of this helps me to cope with the disease as I carry it. He is much calmer when he says ‘I tried’, whatever it comes out, than when he says ‘What if I had done this or that?’ That does bother your conscience, “he reflected.
Captured everyone’s attention
Finally, he issued a challenge to the Osasuna players. “The wish is that you go to training and enjoy it as the best day in the world, because it is today’s training and it is the one we have insured. Everything is so that tomorrow you will have enough effectiveness to convert it into points.” Unzué ended his speech with an exciting “¡Aúpa Osasuna, lads!”, A prelude to the general ovation that all those present gave him.
He wore a shirt with number 1
The squad gave him a goalkeeper jersey with the number one, which he defended in two stages as a professional (from 1986 to 1988 and from 2001 to 2003).
“Today, Juan Carlos Unzué has returned to Tajonar, to his home, to give us a life lesson. His words have been pure gold. A teaching that deserved to be shared,” he wrote on his official Osasuna twitter account.
Read also