Josep Guardiola: Barcelona Coach Receives Gold Medal from Catalan Parliament

According to an FC Barcelona" target="_blank">FC Barcelona website article by Anna Segura, Josep "Pep" Guardiola received the Gold Medal of Catalonia from Nuria de Gispert, president of the Catalan Parliament, for Guardiola's service to FC Barcelona and Catalonia.

Guardiola was accompanied by family members during the award ceremonies held at the Catalan Parliament auditorium. Guardiola gave an acceptance speech during a press conference in which he discussed football and FC Barcelona.

Guardiola thanked the Catalan Parliament for bestowing him the honor. He also thanked Barcelona and Catalonia for their support during his tenure as FC Barcelona manager.

Guardiola continued his acceptance speech by acknowledging his love for FC Barcelona and the position of manager. Guardiola talked about how he learned from other players and staff members during his tenure as FC Barcelona manager.

Guardiola quoted the Barca handball coach Valero Rivera by saying that he gave himself to the club in an altruistic spirit.

I would like to personally use this article to congratulate Josep Guardiola for the Gold Medal of Catalonia.

Guardiola and FC Barcelona were able to win the 2011 UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Champions League. The European Club Association recently named FC Barcelona as the European Club of the Year for 2011.

In other Barcelona-related news published by The Times Of India, Leo Messi and Javier Mascherano will return to the club after participating in an international friendly match for the Argentine National Team. The first matches for Messi and Mascherano will be against Real Sociedad and AC Milan.