Barca charity match against poverty

barca-against-poverty-match

The Catalan giants added another victory to their list yesterday – this time against poverty, in a charity football match in which they were divided into two teams, led by Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. The match was in behalf of Maratón por la Pobreza (Marathon against Poverty) organized by the Catalan regional TV channel, TV3.

It was a great match and the younger crowd really appreciated it, you could tell. It was a fitting climax to Barca’s season especially after the Copa del Rey victory and all the after match celebrations which took place in the Camp Nou.

14,000 people were at the palau St Jordi in Barcelona and most of them were youngsters and families. The Barcelona players, now free of all the pressure of competition, let their hair down and provided a magnificent display of good football.

On one side, wearing the typical Barca claret and blue colours, there was Pinto, Xavi, Piqué, Pedro and Montoya, under the command of Tito Vilanova, with Bartra, Rodri and Espinosa on the bench. Their opposition, under the watchful eye of Pep, wearing orange was Masip, Iniesta, Busquets, Adriano and Tello In addition; there were Dos Santos, Muniesa and Gustavo. Wildcards were in the shape of Valdés and Llie.

It was a match in which the end result wasn’t important. It was a great show from the very beginning with Catalan comedy group Els Comediants providing funny sketches much to the amusement of the crowd at the Palau St Jordi.

A few of Barca’s international stars couldn’t make it namely Messi. Alexis, Mascherano, Afellay and Keita, who were on duty for their countries. However, the Spanish internationals could make it before joining the rest of the team for the Euro cup campaign along with and injured Carles Puyol who was given a standing ovation.

It wasn’t a competitive match by any standards, but good humour, desire and motivation were not lacking and the public appreciated this. Pep Guardiola had a huge grin on his face especially when the fans chanted his name or pleaded with both coaches to play. In the end the score was 8 apiece and Pep won on penalties. It was a great match with nothing to play for except a really good cause.

About Barca Blogger

My name's Steve aka Barca Blogger and one of the founding members of the team at Barcelonafcblog.com. I've been around since the blog started and we aim to bring you the most up to date information on this great club.

Trackbacks

  1. Información Bitacoras.com…

    Valora en Bitacoras.com: The Catalan giants added another victory to their list yesterday – this time against poverty, in a charity football match in which they were divided into two teams, led by Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. The match was in b……