As Catalan cheers serenaded the newly-crowned European champions at Wembley in 2011, Carles Puyol eliminated the captain’s armband from his sleeve and positioned it upon the bicep of Eric Abidal.
Abidal had missed a lot of the season as he bravely battled towards most cancers, earlier than returning to the play his half in Barcelona’s Champions League last win over Manchester United.
For Puyol, it was the best of gestures, however one which visibly impacted the emotional Abidal as he hoisted aloft membership soccer’s largest prize.
That occasion was a microcosm of the profession of Puyol, a warrior on the pitch and gentleman off it. Throughout a adorned profession as one among Barcelona’s all-time greats, the centre-back ensured the degrees of his teammates by no means slipped. None, nonetheless, had been ever left behind.
Puyol needed to work more durable than most to take his place among the many membership’s most revered figures. Born in Lleida, Catalonia, his was a late introduction into the world-famous academy system of the area’s footballing behemoth.
Whereas future teammates in Xavi and Lionel Messi had a number of years of education at La Masia, Puyol arrived as a shaggy-haired 17-year-old who, while gifted, was each uncooked and with no pure place.
He struggled to discover a breakthrough through the late nineties and got here near an exit from the Camp Nou, after Barcelona accepted a proposal from Malaga for his providers in 1998.
Set on realising his dream, nonetheless, he turned down the transfer, arguably the primary present of the energy of character that may later come to outline him.
After working tirelessly to make an impression on Louis van Gaal, his senior debut got here the next season, approaching as a late substitute at Valladolid.
The next season noticed the defender earn approval for a superb El Clasico efficiency, as everlasting rivals Actual Madrid had been overwhelmed on the Camp Nou. A fixture that wants little amplifying had reached fever pitch as Luis Figo made his first return to Barcelona.
Figo had been an idolised determine in Catalonia earlier than committing the final word treachery, transferring to the capital membership in a world-record switch. Puyol, relentlessly strong all through, allowed Figo little room to breathe within the hostility of a baying Barcelona crowd.
Puyol started to develop in stature, with the property to his sport quickly making him a agency favorite. What he lacked elsewhere, he greater than made up for with drive, dedication and sheer will-to-win.
Simply Puyol to beat… 🛑#HBD | #UCL pic.twitter.com/waWtVB1NVT
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 13, 2021
Taking satisfaction in each look within the well-known pink and blue stripes, his anticipation and energy annoyed opponents as he bounded throughout the pitch – distinct flowing mane in tow – to crash into challenges.
Having damaged into the senior facet as a full-back, it was a shift to centre-back that actually unlocked the defender’s potential. Frank Rijkaard’s arrival as supervisor helped finish a chaotic interval on the Camp Nou, with the Dutchman main Barcelona to a primary league title in six seasons in 2004/05.
That marketing campaign was Puyol’s first as captain, having been voted because the membership’s chosen chief forward of the brand new period.
One other league title adopted in 2005/06, a season which additionally noticed the defender declare Europe’s largest prize. His staunch defending supplied the bedrock of Barcelona’s Champions League profitable workforce, as Arsenal had been overwhelmed in Paris to win the trophy for the primary since 1992.
Rijkaard’s interval of success didn’t final nonetheless, with two seasons of underachievement following. Quickly, nonetheless, would start the defining interval of Puyol’s profession and maybe Barcelona’s historical past.
Former teammate Pep Guardiola took cost in the summertime of 2008 and his affect was nothing in need of unimaginable. His debut season noticed Barcelona conquer all earlier than them, changing into the primary Spanish facet to win a Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey treble.
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Puyol, intense and imposing, was the chief of their history-making facet. Alongside him was Gerard Pique, who returned to Barcelona that summer time after a four-year spell at Manchester United.
Having been schooled in La Masia he had tried his luck in England with modest success, however excelled below the steering of Puyol because the older statesmen took his fellow Catalonian below his wing.
Pique paid a glowing tribute to Puyol upon his retirement, calling his centre-back colleague his ‘guardian angel’ in a social media submit.
“I met you 6 years in the past. You had been the captain and the logo of the workforce and I used to be only a child arriving, set on conquering the world,” Pique wrote on Fb.
“From day one we had an incredible relationship, each on and off the sector. By your facet I felt protected and I knew that if in the future I made a mistake you’d at all times be there to save lots of me. You had been my guardian angel.
“I do know that I’ll miss our talks within the locker room, your recommendation and particularly you giving us hell on the pitch. You’re distinctive; a one-off. I discover it amusing once they speak about signing “the brand new Puyol”. They’ll look all they need, however they’ll by no means discover it.”
Puyol had returned to start his first pre-season below Guardiola as a serious match winner with Spain. La Roja travelled to Euro 2008 as one of many favourites, however had been a workforce scarred from previous disappointments.
Thought to be one among worldwide soccer’s nice underachievers, a summer time of excellent soccer ended with Spain topped European champions – securing a primary main match success since 1964 – and with Puyol named within the Crew of the Match.
Spain’s success was adopted with a World Cup triumph in 2010, as La Roja had been topped world champions for the primary time in South Africa. Puyol produced one of many match’s defining photographs, rising magnificently to go residence the semi-final winner towards Germany.
🗣️ “At half-time ‘Puyi’ mentioned, ‘We’ve had three or 4 corners. Put the subsequent one close to the penalty spot and I’ll come charging,” recalled Xavi.
🎯 Xavi’s supply was excellent. @Carles5puyol‘s header despatched Spain into the #WorldCup last 🎊@SeFutbol | #OTDpic.twitter.com/cq4Yq1L3J4
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 7, 2021
As soon as once more Puyol was a commanding determine in a dressing room that, regardless of fierce membership rivalries and political variations, united in collective ambition.
Harm dominated the centre-back out of Spain’s unprecedented third main match in succession at Euro 2012, with the final of his century of caps coming in 2013.
Again at membership degree, the trophies continued to reach at a shocking charge and Guardiola’s workforce developed to new ranges. Thought to be arguably the best membership facet of all time. Whereas the fluidity of the soccer was scary, their success was nonetheless constructed upon the axis of Puyol and Pique in central defence.
Aggressive however honest, Puyol was an instance and ensured nothing lower than 100% was ever deemed acceptable. His clenched fists and bellowing roars grew to become a well-known sight, along with his drive to win infectious.
G⚽️AL OF THE DAY
©️ @Carles5puyol pic.twitter.com/UgR3xQfcUm— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 21, 2021
Health issues started to plaque Puyol in the direction of the latter interval of Guardiola’s reign nonetheless, and he featured solely as a late substitute through the aforementioned 2011 Champions League last win.
When humbly handing the trophy over to Abidal, it was the third time he had celebrated changing into a European champion.
It was a compassionate act he repeated in 2013 when permitting Abidal, lately recovered from a liver transplant, and supervisor Tito Vilanova, affected by throat most cancers that may sadly declare his life, to raise the La Liga trophy.
That success was the sixth title win of Puyol’s profession and sits amongst 18 main honours gained in membership soccer, alongside his distinguished function in Spain’s best triumphs.
Finally, as time and recurring accidents introduced an finish to his profession on the Camp Nou, he determined to stroll away from a membership that had been all he had ever recognized.
One-club icons are a rarity in trendy soccer, rarer nonetheless when at a membership of Barcelona’s measurement and in an period the place the soccer on present appeared alien at instances. It’s a testomony to Carles Puyol and his heart-on-sleeve heroics that he departed the sport considered one among Catalonia’s favorite sons.
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