A familiar looking Spanish squad beats Portugal

Posted on June 30th, 2010 by admin

Anyone watching the match between Spain and Portugal may have been forgiven that they had tuned in for a match at the Nou Camp, with no less than six FC Barcelona players on pitch for the Spanish squad:

Gerard Pique
Carles Puyol
Andres Iniesta
David Villa
Xavi
Sergio Busquets

At times the play looked very like Barça, which should mean that Barça’s new signing, David Villa, has already settled into the style of his new team mates.

“The longer the game went on, the more possession Spain seemed to have. Pass, pass, pass. Yet Portugal’s defence – unbreached in the group stage, even against Brazil – was a securely closed door. Secure that is until Andres Iniesta and Xavi unpicked the lock with quick and precise passing to send David Villa one one one with Eduardo.”
Read Match Review & Highlights: Spain 1-0 Portugal at World Cup Blog

And like Barça, the Spanish squad absolutely dominated possession of the ball, with Cristiano Ronaldo hardly getting a touch. While that possession didn’t translate into a huge goal tally – like sometimes happens with Barça – at least the football was good to watch, unlike that of some of the teams – England anybody?

Portugal’s defence pretty much stopped Spain from scoring more goals, but for most of the match it looked like defending was all they could do. Spain’s next match is against Paraguay in the quarter-finals on July 3rd. They’re looking good to make the semis.

Tags: Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, Spanish, World Cup

Henry and Toure to leave Barcelona [Reuters]

Posted on June 29th, 2010 by admin

According to a Reuters article, Thierry Henry and Touré Yaya are to leave FC Barcelona. Henry agreed to the transfer before heading off to South Africa and France’s early exit from the competition – it was Henry’s unpunished handball against Ireland that put France through – and was widely expected owing to his lack of on pitch performance, which has seem him sit most matches out.

“Now it is up to him to complete it,” Barca director Joan Oliver said on the club website (www.fcbarcelona.com) after the last board meeting under outgoing president Joan Laporta This will allow Barca to save money on his wages in the next financial year.”

And it is understood that Touré Yaya requested a transfer; Barça has been negotiating with Man City over and move there.

Read “Henry and Toure to leave Barcelona” at Reuters

Tags: Manchester City, Thierry Henry, Touré Yaya

Liverpool’s Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano Targeted by FC Barcelona [Bleacher Report]

Posted on June 24th, 2010 by admin

FC Barcelona is planning on signing Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano, two of Liverpool’s brightest stars, according to an article in the Bleacher report. The article states:

“Barcelona have decided they, too, want to bring in a huge number of amazing players to match up what Real Madrid did last year with Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. The Catalan side is in negotiations with Manchester City to sell off midfielder Yaya Toure for a value of €30 million, which they hope to use in signing his replacement.”

Read Liverpool’s Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano Targeted by FC Barcelona on Bleacher Report

Tags: FC Barcelona, Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano, Liverpool

Training ahead of Osasuna

Posted on March 24th, 2010 by admin

Yesterday’s training session ahead of the Osasuna match tonight saw Xavi and Abidal continue their recovery.

Nineteen players participated in the training session, the warm day contrasting with the snowy conditions of two weeks ago. One player looking unlikely to be fit is Pique, whose knee injury will almost certainly rule him out of the match.

The previous clash with Osasuna resulted in a 1-1 draw, but the team is down in 13th place and has won just 8 matches compared with Barcelona’s 21.

Tags: Abidal, Osasuna, Pique, Xavi

Piqué trains apart due to knee injury

Posted on March 23rd, 2010 by admin

Piqué and Milito limped off the pitch within minutes of each other during Sunday’s match against Zaragoza, the former with a knee problem while Milito suffering pain in his calf.

While the squad returned to training on Monday morning, ahead of their clash with Osasuna on Wednesday, Piqué trained apart as he continues to suffer discomfort in his left knee. Both players had medical checks on Monday morning, but Milito was able to participate in full training.

Tags: Milito, Osasuna, Pique, Zaragoza

Rest from training after Stuttgart win

Posted on March 19th, 2010 by admin

While squad members who played the full ninety minutes against Stuttgart on Wednesday took a rest from training yesterday, the others resumed training, including recovery work for Busquets, Abidal and Xavi.

The entire squad will be training this morning ahead of Sunday’s match against Zaragoza. The session is due to start at 10:30 at the Ciutat Esportiva in Sant Joan Despí.

Tags: Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Zaragoza

Unicef role for Messi

Posted on March 11th, 2010 by admin

Lionel Messi is due to be unveiled today as the Unicef Worldwide Ambassador for Goodwill.

He will be awarded the honorary title at the Nou Camp, followed at 13:30, but a press conference that will include Joan Laporta and Unicef representative Philip O’Brien.

The role will include supporting children’s rights, particularly those most vulnerable in the world. It is the first time that a Barça player has been awarded such a role, which is used to highlight Unicef’s actions.

Tags: Laporta, Messi, Unicef

Barça to appeal suspensions

Posted on March 10th, 2010 by admin

FC Barcelona is to appeal the expulsions of Pep Guardiola and Zlatan Ibrahimovic during the match against Almeria on Saturday.

Guardiola was sent off in the 27th minute for allegedly approaching the assistant referee and shouting at him almost face to face; he was seen telephoning instructions to the bench during the remainder of the match. Ibrahimovic receive his red card for kicking an opponent in the 60th minute.

Tags: Guardiola, Ibrahimovic

Video: snow hits Barcelona training

Posted on March 9th, 2010 by admin

Barcelona was hit by snow on Monday, throwing the city into chaos. The Barça squad continued training though, ahead of their weekend match with Valencia.

To get an idea of the snow take a look at the video below, which shows how the Nou Camp was affected.

Tags: Nou Camp, Snow

Training session ahead of clash with Malaga

Posted on February 26th, 2010 by admin

After a cancelled training session on Wednesday, the squad was back at it yesterday ahead of the match against Malaga on Saturday.

Dani Alves seems to be recovering well and was back to full training, while Keita and Abidal spent their session in the gym for treatment of their injuries.

Tags: Abidal, Alves, Keita, Malaga