Juan Carlos Unzué Labiano (born 22 April 1967) is a Spanish
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
manager and former player who played as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
.
As a player, he represented mostly
Sevilla
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...
, for which he appeared in nearly 300 official games. He also spent two years with
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
,
and played 318
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
matches in 17 seasons.
After retiring, Unzué went on to work extensively as a goalkeeper coach and a manager.
Playing career
Born in
Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
, Unzué came through the ranks of hometown club
CA Osasuna
Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El Sa ...
, but could not break into the first team. More of the same happened after he signed with
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
giants
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Founded ...
in 1988, as he was barred by
Andoni Zubizarreta
Andoni Zubizarreta Urreta (, ; born 23 October 1961) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
The all-time most capped player for the Spain national team for several years, he played with individual and team succ ...
.
[
Joining ]Sevilla FC
Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...
for 1990–91, Unzué blossomed as a top-flight player, rarely missing a match in his first five years. As the Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
ns were relegated at the end of the 1996–97 campaign, he moved to CD Tenerife
Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...
for a further two seasons.[
After two years at ]Real Oviedo
Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...
as backup to local Esteban Esteban () is a Spanish male given name, derived from Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos) and related to the English names Steven and Stephen. Although in its original pronunciation the accent is on the penultimate syllable, English-speakers tend t ...
, his input consisting of seven Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
appearances, Unzué returned to his first club in summer 2001, being the starter in his debut season and second choice in his second.[ He retired from the game in June 2003 at age 36, after having helped his team reach the semi-finals in the domestic cup.
]
Coaching career
Unzué returned to the Camp Nou
Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...
immediately after retiring, as the goalkeeping coach of the Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (; born 30 September 1962) is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder. Rijkaard played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and AC Milan and represented the Netherlands national team side ...
-led side. After the Dutchman left, he retained his position under Pep Guardiola
Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the re ...
.
On 17 June 2010, after five years with Barcelona, Unzué had his first head coach experience, joining Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...
team CD Numancia
Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...
. One year later, he returned to his previous position, replacing Carles Busquets
Carles Busquets Barroso (; born 19 July 1967) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, mostly for Barcelona.
Club career
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Busquets was a FC Barcelona graduate who joined from neighbou ...
.
On 21 June 2012, Unzué was presented as Racing de Santander
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...
manager. On 13 August, however, he was dismissed following disagreements with the board of directors over the duration of his contract, and became Luis Enrique
Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player.
A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played as ...
's assistant at RC Celta de Vigo
Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...
the following 13 June.
Unzué returned to Barcelona on 15 July 2014, remaining as Luis Enrique's assistant. On 28 May 2017, he returned to managerial duties after being appointed at the helm of Celta for two seasons.
On 19 May 2018, after finishing in a disappointing 13th position, Unzué left Balaídos
The Estadio Municipal de Balaídos (), known as Abanca-Balaídos for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium located in Vigo, Spain. It is owned by the Vigo's city council, and is the home of La Liga club Celta Vigo. The stadium opened on ...
. On 13 June 2019, after more than a year without a club, he signed with recently relegated side Girona FC
Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs.
Girona holds its home matches at ...
, being relieved of his duties on 21 October.
Personal life
Unzué's son, Jesús (born 1993), is also a footballer and a goalkeeper. He was a member of the Barcelona Juvenil squad which won the league
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
and cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...
in 2011, but was unable to make the breakthrough to the professional level and moved on to local clubs such as CF Gavà
Club de Futbol Gavà is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Gavà, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1922 it plays in 1ª Catalana – Group 2, holding home games at ''Estadi La Bòbila'', with a c ...
and CE Júpiter
Club Esportiu Júpiter is a Spanish football team based in Barcelona in the district of Sant Martí, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it plays in the Tercera División – Group 5, holding home games at ''Camp Municip ...
.
Unzué's older son, Aitor, played as a midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
in Tercera División
Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...
(also with Gavà), and his niece Marta
Marta may refer to:
People
* Marta (given name), a feminine given name
* Märta, a feminine given name
* Marta (surname)
:István Márta composer
* Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer
Places
* Marta (river), an ...
represented Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
.[ A keen cyclist in his spare time, he came from a family which was heavily involved in cycle racing: his brother Eusebio managed the , whilst his nephew ]Enrique Sanz
Enrique Sanz Unzué (born 11 September 1989) is a Spanish professional cyclist, who used to ride for UCI ProTeam .
Sanz comes from a sporting family; he is the nephew of the general manager, Eusebio Unzué, while his father Enrique and brother ...
was a racing cyclist.
In February 2020, Unzué was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...
. On 18 June, one day before the league game between Sevilla and Barcelona in Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
and three days ahead of the International ALS/MND day, he made his condition public at a special press conference held at Camp Nou
Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...
.
Managerial statistics
Honours
Barcelona
*Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
: 1989–90
*UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
: 1988–89
Spain U20
*FIFA U-20 World Cup
The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...
runner-up: 1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unzue, Juan Carlos
1967 births
Living people
Footballers from Pamplona
Spanish footballers
Association football goalkeepers
La Liga players
Segunda División B players
CA Osasuna B players
CA Osasuna players
FC Barcelona players
Sevilla FC players
CD Tenerife players
Real Oviedo players
Spain youth international footballers
Spain under-21 international footballers
Basque Country international footballers
Spanish football managers
La Liga managers
Segunda División managers
CD Numancia managers
Racing de Santander managers
RC Celta de Vigo managers
Girona FC managers
FC Barcelona non-playing staff
People with motor neuron disease