Rafael Nadal and Pep Guardiola set to team up in alternative sporting battle
Sporting royalty will team up in Mallorca next month as Rafael Nadal and Pep Guardiola unite for a special cause.
Tennis legend Nadal and iconic soccer coach Guardiola will be teaming together at Mallorca’s Pula Golf Resort and Son Servera Golf Club from June 12-14for a golf event that will raise huge sums of money for ALS and multiple sclerosis charities.
Joining them at this event will be legendary footballers including Sweden’s Henrik Larsson, Argentine Gabriel Batistuta and Liverpool icon John Arne Riise.
Barcelona and Real Madrid stalwart Bernd Schuster will also appear alongside compatriot Uli Stielike, as well as Bordeaux manager Albert Riera – who had several spells in the Premier League as a player.
Active La Liga stars will also appear, with Barcelona’s Marcos Alonso among the line-up as well as Villarreal’s Pepe Reina and Manu Trigueros. Nadal’s uncles, Miguel Ángel and former coach Toni, will tee off alongside the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
Among those flying the flag for France will be former World Cup winner Alain Boghossian, while Danish businessman Flemming Østergaard – former chairman of the company that owns FC Copenhagen – is also expected to appear. A host of Italian ex-footballers, including former AC Milan stars Mauro Tassotti, Roberto Donadoni and Stefano Nava, bolster the soccer contingent.
Nadal’s passion for golf is looks set to see him commit more time to the sport when his tennis career comes to an end.
“I just love the game of golf,” said Nadal in an interview in 2022. “It is very different to tennis, but also the same in some ways. You have to control your mentality to succeed in both sports.”
READ MORE: Rafael Nadal’s Olympic Games record – as he sets sights on Paris 2024
Nadal’s long-time tennis rival Novak Djokovic is also a passionate golf player and impressed fans with his skills when he played in a Pro-Am event prior to last year’s Ryder Cup.
“When I got an invite, I was like, ‘Oh my god. I gotta accept this…’ I got a bit prepared,” said Djokovic as he looked back on his experience in Italy last September.
“I thought I can’t hit someone in the head… because we don’t want that. I have no insurance!
“Then I started to ask questions about who was competing and I wanted to know their handicap. And I started to train a bit more, I got lessons.
“When you become a father, you have less time. I haven’t played much golf in the last six years. But I increased the amount of golf I’ve played in the last six months, especially in the last ten days.”
Sports fans around the world have relished the rivalry between Nadal and Djokovic on tennis courts for the last two decades and maybe we will get a chance to see the pair go head-to-head on a golf course when their sporting careers end.
The end of Djokovic’s tennis career is a topic that has been spoken about more frequently in recent months, as he has floundered in the opening half of 2024.
Yet it seems Nadal’s final tennis match is edging closer after his exit at the French Open following a defeat against Alexander Zverev on Monday.
Nadal made what he suggested will probably be his final appearance at Roland Garros and admitted he doesn’t know if he will return in 2024.
He is hoping to make a final appearance at the Roland Garros courts for this summer’s Olympics and maybe then we will see more of Nadal on a golf course.
