After receiving the Gold Medal from the Parliament of Catalonia yesterday, FC Barcelona head coach Pep Guardiola has been the subject of high praise among many prominent Catalans. Many of his personal and professional qualities (such as commitment, effort, passion, implication, self-criticism and values) were the subject of the compliments.

Artur Mas, a Catalan politician who is President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, said, “This recognition is a modest but solemn way of thanking you for all you have done, are doing and will do.” He continued by stating that Guardiola is “an example to follow … My golden moment is seeing that this country is capable of creating people like you, who sets such an example, who generates confidence, who people love and who has managed to put the country at the very top. You are a solid, healthy example. I ask you to continue winning but more than anything, I ask you to continue being the man you are.”

Former FC Barcelona Director Evarist Murtra knew Guardiola back from his playing days and remembered “when I first met you I realized immediately that I was before a man who firmly believes that the end does not justify the means, that you are dignity in capital letters.”

“Pep is one of the few people I know who achieves what is most urgent (titles), what is most important (the way this is done) and what is most essential (staying loyal to the institution he represents and its founders),” continued Murtra. Murtra believes Guardiola embodies “values that make Catalonia great. He is a universal Catalan, he is one of ours. If we follow his example we’d be doing well.” Examples of these values are “the desire to create a group of friends, to work in a team and to pull together efforts.”

A close personal friend of Guardiola who is also a journalist and director at Catalan TV station TV3, Mònica Terribas, commented on El Mister’s “vitality, courage and coherence … he learned to live with permanent demands, which is the only way to beat complacence because the things that are done are more important that what they signify.” Looking back on Guardiola’s evolution as a successful player and coach, Terribas attributed his accomplishments to “his noble spirit, his courage and his readiness to fight.”

Another friend of Guardiola, Spanish TV and film director David Trueba, joked that “the rare presence of somebody from Madrid at an event like this goes to show just what kind of a person he is, a man who only lets into his life people that can give him something.” Trueba also confirmed that it was Guardiola who “managed to make many football skeptics sense that Barça belongs to us all and it is what you do off the ball that creates the added value that so many people attribute to you.”

All of these speeches from Guardiola’s friends and admirers prove that he is “a universal Catalan, one of ours.”

Source: fcbarcelona.cat; Image: Reuters Pictures