Juan Carlos Unzue is a former Barcelona player, who is suffering from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. The Catalan club are hosting Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in a charity match to show solidarity with Unzue and all others suffering from the degenerative disease for which there is no known cure. 

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Unzue, a former goalkeeper, is the promoter of the game between two of Europe’s biggest football teams. All proceeds from the match will go towards ALS research.

Juan Carlos Unzue, who was also a coach, took the kick-off at Camp Nou on Wednesday. 

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Ahead of the match, he was seen wishing luck to the Barca squad. “I love you guys and I wish the best for you this season,” he told the locker room. 

“Lastly, I want to say that members of the ALS squad wants to continue to live and enjoy life. There’s no time to lose. Thank you very much and enjoy the game!”

Who is Juan Carlos Unzué?

Born in Pamplona, Spain, Juan Carlos Unzué, is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He is 55 years old. 

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He played nearly 300 official games for La Liga club Sevilla. He also spent two years with Barcelona. Unzué finished his Spanish top-tier career, 17 seasons, with 318 games. 

After retiring, Unzué went on to work extensively as a goalkeeper coach and a manager. He was the goalkeeping coach of the Frank Rijkaard-led Barcelona side and retained his position in the Pep Guardiola era. 

In June 2010, after five years with Barcelona, Unzué had his first head coach experience, joining Segunda División team CD Numancia. He was presented as Racing de Santander manager in 2012 but was dismissed following disagreements with the board of directors over the duration of his contract. He became Luis Enrique’s assistant at RC Celta de Vigo the following June 13.