Fates send Quini back to Camp Nou

Life has thrown ex-Spain striker Enrique 'Quini' Castro another curveball, with the 59-year-old being thrust back into the limelight when he leads Real Sporting de Gijón for one night only against another of his former teams, FC Barcelona.

Coaches suspended
With both coach Manuel Preciado and assistant Iñaki Tejada suspended after being sent to the stands during Sporting's 1-0 win against Sevilla FC last weekend, Quini – the club's senior liaison officer – will return to Camp Nou in a competitive capacity for the first time in 25 years. Five times the Spanish Liga's top scorer, he starred for Barcelona between 1980 and 1984, in between two spells with the Gijon outfit which yielded 215 goals in 325 league games.

Team unity
The stand-in boss will be hoping team spirit will help his 12th-placed charges do themselves justice at the home of the leaders, having once said: "The coach is always considered good when a team are up there challenging. I don't want to take away any importance from the coaches but the most important thing is that there is unity in the dressing room."

Proud memory
Quini is one of three players – along with Alfredo Di Stéfano and Hugo Sánchez – to have won five Pichichi prizes, with only Telmo Zarra, on six, eclipsing them. He said proudly: "In my day you had great forwards like Mario Kempes scoring lots of goals, but here was this kid from Oviedo called Quini who managed to be the league's top scorer with Sporting."

Career honours
He earned some of his 35 Spain caps at the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups, and also played at the 1980 UEFA European Championship, in a career that was notable for high drama. With Sporting he won two promotions; at Camp Nou he hit the winner in the 1981/82 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, and also lifted the Copa del Rey, registering twice against Sporting in the 1980/81 final.

Kidnap victim
That provided a sublime ending to a season which had seen improbable events off the field. Quini was kidnapped in March 1981 and held for 25 days before police arrested one of his captors while they were on the way to collect the ransom money. Quini said of his ordeal: "That was a long time ago, back in the 80s, and as far as I'm concerned it's forgotten now."

Sad events
Sadly, it was not to be the last drama in Quini's life. In July 1993, his brother Jesús – Sporting's one-time goalkeeper – died after saving two English girls from drowning off a beach near Pechon in northern Spain. More recently, in 2006, he underwent the first of two operations for throat cancer, before returning to Sporting several months ago to resume his duties.

Not forgotten
He once said: "In life, you have to deal with whatever comes your way. I don't like looking back. I have no regrets. But one thing that surprises me is that people still remember me." Quini has given no pre-match press conference before Sunday's game, citing medical issues, yet Barcelona fans will need no reminders of the man in the opposition dugout when they welcome him back to Camp Nou.