International Results

Hey-ho, the internationals are over and I'm back to report the shocking scorelines. We've got three matches to talk about:

Spain's opening qualifier for the Euro 2012 ended in a promising 4-0 triumph for La Roja, with Barca's David Villa netting the second goal. But Villa and company weren't as hot a few days later against Messi, Milito, Mascherano and rest of the Argies...

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Man-of-the-match Lio Messi led his team to a 4-1 victory, scoring the second goal himself along the way, and I don't think anyone saw that coming - I certianly didn't. But Spain really did not show up for that match, and I don't just mean goalkeeper Pepe Riena with his fumble that cost his team their third concession.

Barca boys Dani Alves and Adriano joined the Brazil national team as they faced off against Barca B, and accordingly walked off with a 3-0 win. It certainly was a big event for the B-team, but I guess they can't have hoped to win against Menezes' Brazilian side.

And now that all that is done with, we can move past it (and, if you please, everything concerning Cesc's Barca heartache) and think about Barca's upcoming Liga match against newly promoted side Hercules FC.

International Duty Calls

It's time for internationals again and as per usual, almost all the Barca boys are called up, with most of them facing off in the much awaited Spain - Argentina friendly.

Due to an injury in his left calf muscle, Puyol is left out of Spain's roster leaving his fellow countrymen Valdes, Pique, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa and Pedro to represent Spain against their Barca teammates from the Argentine squad: Messi, Milito and Mascherano. The match is set for September 7th, before which Spain will face Lichenstein on September 3rd as they start qualifications for the upcoming Euro, of which they are currently title holders.

Barca is also represented in Spain's U-21 squad, as Bojan and Jeffren as well as B-teamers Miño and Thiago are called up to face Holland in qualifications for the U-21 European Championship.

Last but not least, Dani Alves joins the Brazilian national team for the upcoming friendly against none other than Barca's B-team. Now that should be interesting.

International Friendly Round-Up

The called-up Barca boys all came out intact from the string of international freindlies; the results:

Spain 1-1 Mexico: Villa stayed on the bench while the six remaining Barca boys played for Spaoin, some for more time than others:

Busquets: 1 hour

Puyol: 1st half
Valdes: 2nd half
Xavi: 30 minutes
Pique: 25 minutes

Pedro: 20 minutes

Victor Valdes got to hug ex-Barca boy Rafa Marquez who got booked for fouling Busi, and Xavi assisted the equalizing goal by David Silva in the loss time.

Ireland 0-1 Argentina: Messi played for Argentina for 1 hour

USA 0-2 Brazil: Dani Alves played for Brazil for the whole game

Sweden 3-0 Scotland: Ibrahimovic played for Sweden for 1 hour and scored the first goal.

Lithuania 0-2 Belarus: Hleb played for Belarus for the 1st half.

Angola 0-2 Uruguay: Caceres didn't play for Uruguay

Finland U21 1-1 Spain U21: Bojan and Jeffren played whole game and Bojan scored the equalizing goal from a penalty

All the players are due back in Barcelona for tonight's training session, except for Bojan and Jeffren who will be back tomorrow.

Barca's International Headache

Barca's squad is certainly suffering right now, as almost all the players are off to join their national teams:

- Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets, David Villa, Pedro: Spain (vs Mexico)

- Dani Alves: Brazil (vs USA)

- Lionel Messi: Argentina (vs Ireland)

- Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Sweden (vs Scotland)

Returning loan-outs:

- Alex Hleb: Belarus (vs Lithuania)

- Martin Caceres: Uruguay (vs Angola)

UEFA U-21 Championship:

- Bojan Krkic, Jeffren Suarez: Spain (fixtures here)

This can't be good for the Barca's Spaniards since they join their national team straight from vacation, but word is that they will only play fifteen minutes of the game. Elsewhere, Eric Abidal is left out of France's squad to face Norway as is Keita from Mali's squad to face Guinea, and Jonathan Dos Santos is pardoned from joining Mexico against Spain.

That leaves Pinto, Maxwell, Abidal, Adriano, Milito, Keita, and Iniesta as well as Victor Sanchez, Jonny Dos Santos and the rest of the B-team boys on Barca's squad. Sounds fabulous, no?

Randoms: Pique's Greek Getaway

- So much Barca gossip, and it's not even about Barca. It's about Pique, who can't help but attract limelights from all around the world even when he's vacationing in the remotest parts of it...

- Like during his recent vaycay in Greece with his girl Nuria Tomas (pic via kickette) which shuts down all speculation that they had split up. What also calls to be shut down is the web of claims that Gerard had an affair with Shakira during his stay in Ibiza. She may have been there and they may have hung out together, but I doubt there's much more to the story than that. Chica's been in a committed relationship since forever, and in case you missed it, our boy has a girlfriend.

- Back to Barca: Our B-team beat the champions of China 3-0 yesterday, woohoo! Okay, it wasn't exactly the B-team, but almost. Barely a handful of first-teamers participated (goals from Roberto, Nolito, Ibrahimovic) what with the team's eight Spanish champions still missing, which brings me to the next piece of news:

- International issues ended with the World Cup. Right? Wrong. They keep getting worse what with the upcoming friendlies, like the Mexico - Spain match that's disrupting Barca's Supercup squad. Our Spaniard champions, bar Iniesta, are stalled from catching up with the team since they've all been called up; and Jonathan Dos Santos would have gone packing to join Mexico if they hadn't agreed to pardon him. You won't see anything like that concerning the Spanish players though, so our wait for their return is further extended.

- Iniesta alone reported for duty in Barcelona today, took his physical and was put right to training, solo. Hopefully this season he won't be plagued with injury again, and Barca can stop worrying about buying a midfielder that I personally think we don't need. Pep doesn't seem too keen on buying Ozil anyway, and In Pep We Trust, right?

- Xavi, who has been very vocal concerning just about every matter under the sun lately, is still ranting about Cesc being kept from joining Barca, saying things like "You should never cage an animal that is meant to be in the wild and you can’t cage a player of Cesc’s talent." Then again, the Daily Star isn't the most reliable of sources, and after Puyol denying his alleged Cesc-related comments, you never know what to believe.

- Last of all, y'all need to check out this wonderfully imaginative interpretation of the Cesc saga if you haven't already.

Randoms: Felicidades Principe Pique

- Following Gerard Pique's unforgettable ad for cookie brand Galletas Principe de Beuckelaer, the company released this poster in congratulations to him after winning the World Cup with Spain. And I think I'm going to start calling him Principe Pique from now on.

- Andres Iniesta hasn't signed any Hollywood contracts, but when his footie career has run its course he'll always have his wine business to fall back on - he'll be producing red, white and rose wines bearing the name 'Iniesta' by September.

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- Iniesta has also been featured in the July edition of El Mundo magazine, and what do you know, he has hair! Pictures of the spread as well as english translations of the articles here.

- Just because: Spain's U-19 squad (milling with boys from Barca's youth) taking a day off in the pool.

- Chinese artist Wang Huaping has combined his love for football with his talent in carving actual eggs to produce eggs bearing the faces of several top footballers, including Barca's Lionel Messi and David Villa - all I can say is wow.

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Randoms: Pique Vacationing With... Guess Who?

- For those of you wondering what Gerard Pique is up to now that the World Cup is over, he’s in Ibiza with none other than... Cesc Fabregas, naturally. They're on a vacation that revolves around beaching and boating, and you know what that means – hot waterside photos of the two. There are already some shots of Pique on the boat in question, looking great if you can look past the puffy pink shorts; you could also get your Pique fix from this video.

- David Villa is set to be the face of a new ad for the NESTLÉ ice cream Maxibon, also promoting the related ‘Mix The Trip’ contest that invites participants to propose their dream trip, or something. More here.

- Apparently, Barca has about fifty million euros to spend on transfers this summer (does that include the 9.5 million already put up for Adriano?), which basically means that the club can spend it all on Cesc, or make several other back-up signings. With the club saying they'll certainly sign a centerback and a defensive midfielder, I wonder which it'll be?

- The international retirement bug is really going around after this World Cup, as Thierry Henry, who is currently busy training with the New York Red Bulls, has just announced the end of his France career. I know, he’s not a Barca boy anymore, but I felt the urge to report this anyway.

- Remember that cute Brazilian kid we signed last summer, the one who claimed he wants to be the best player in the world someday? After Keirrison spent last season between loans to Benfica and Fiorentina, Pep has decided that he still isn’t ready for the team. Accordingly, the player has been dispatched back to Brazil, this time on loan to Santos.

- Pep has called up all of Barca’s B-team players who aren’t off at the U-19 Euro, to join the first team when preseason training kicks off on Monday. Three cheers for the youth players! I’m most excited about the participation of Jonathan Dos Santos, Marc Muniesa, and Oier Olazábal – anyone of the seventeen players that piques your interest?

International Retirement? Yes? No?

Carles Puyol has presented each of his Spanish teammates with one of his own watches, the CP5 (pictured below), either in honor of Spain’s historic World Cup victory or as a farewell gesture since he has officially retired from the national team after ninety caps. Winning the World Cup is a grand way to end his international career, but the Spanish team will surely miss him!

Xavi seems to think his teammate won't go through with it... we'll just have to wait and see, will Puyol have a change of heart the way Zlatan did?

Because Zlatan Ibrahimovic is doing just the opposite, by announcing that he’s decided to return to play for his national team. After Sweden failed to qualify for the World Cup, Zla claimed he had lost the motivation for playing with the squad; now though, he says he’s missed it and so made the decision to come back after several talks with new coach Eric Hamren. He’ll also be captaining the team, congrats!

World Cup Wrap

Can’t believe I’m finally back and blogging, and what better way to kick things off than with a Blaugrana World Cup wrap? First order of business: Congratulations to Valdes, Pique, Puyol, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro and Villa, who return to the club as World Champions! Yes, Valdes regrettably got no minutes in the tournament, and yes, Villa hasn’t yet debuted for Barca, but I’m equally thrilled for every one of them.

Also, well done to the rest of the Barca boys who participated in the World Cup, for their efforts and achievements with their teams. There can only be one winner, but everyone gets credit for trying! Dani Alves with Brazil as well as Leo Messi with Argentina all made it to the quarter finals; Rafa Marquez also captained Mexico to reach the last sixteen. Things weren’t as bright for Thierry Henry and Eric Abidal, with France leaving the tournament after just the group stages, and the same goes for Yaya Toure and his team, Ivory Coast (I know, I know, he’s gone to City, but he was a still Barca boy during his time in the tournament).

That said, let’s get back to the returning champions. It’s lucky number eight!

- EIGHT is the number of Barca players on the Spanish squad that were just crowned World champions – that’s almost a whole lineup!
- In their first ever World Cup final, Spain have become the EIGHTH team to ever win the tournament (the others being Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France, England, Italy).
- EIGHT is the number of goals scored by Spain during the tournament, and coincidentally, all were scored by Barca players! (1 for Puyol, 2 for Iniesta, 5 for Villa)
- Iniesta scored the decisive goal in the final that clinched the title for Spain, and though he wears the number six on the national team, on Barca he’s the proud bearer of the number EIGHT (Xavi and Iniesta, the dynamic midfield duo, wear reversed numbers on Barca and Spain – with the club Xavi is 6 and Iniesta is 8, while with the country it’s the other way around!)

… eight Barca players on the Spanish squad, eight returning champions for Barcelona. It’s a big number. The Spanish lineup was easily dominated by Barca boys throughout the tournament, and at times it felt like watching Barca, with Villa more or less playing the indispensable Messi role. Which makes it that much more exciting that Villa is now a Barca player. He clicked perfectly with the Barca boys on the Spanish squad (that incredible pass from Xavi that led to Villa’s goal against Paraguay is a great example of how well they can work together) and starts his era on the club in high spirits as a World champion, not to mention Spain’s best player and top scorer in the tournament – we are certainly in for one hell of a season!