Barça’s 2011 year in review.

Today, we bid farewell to 2011. For us Barça fans, 2011 was another great season that came close to matching 2009. The team was in contention for another treble but managed to win another double by capturing their 21st league title and their fourth ever UEFA Champions League title. They then started the new season by winning both the Spanish and UEFA Super Cups before finally winning their second ever FIFA Club World Cup title. 2011 also saw FC Barcelona face Real Madrid an astonishing seven times with their lone defeat coming in the Copa Del Rey Final as they won three and drew three. 2011 was also an impressive season for the players as Messi, Iniesta and Xavi were finalists for the FIFA Balon d’Or while Valdés won another Zamora trophy along with Messi, Xavi and Valdés reaching historic club milestones. So without further delay, here is the 2011 year in review of FC Barcelona.

January

January ushered us into the New Year and it kicked off with Xavi becoming Barça’s all time leader in appearances. Xavi would then head to Switzerland with fellow teammates Iniesta and Messi for the FIFA Balon d’Or award ceremony. This marked the first time since the Milan team of the late 80’s that the three finalists for the Balon d’Or came from the same team. In a somewhat surprise announcement, Messi beat Xavi and Iniesta to capture his second consecutive Golden Ball.  Additionally, six Barça players were in the UEFA.com team of the year.

January also saw Barça compete in three different ties in the Copa Del Rey.  Barça eliminated Athletic Bilbao thanks to an important away goal from the most unlikely source, Abidal. The final score of 1-1 was enough for Barça to advance after ending the first leg in a scoreless draw. Barça then succeeded in scoring two consecutive 5-0 routes in the first legs of their Copa Del Rey Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals against Real Betis and Almeria.

January also saw Busquets sign an extension to remain with the team while it was announced that Thiago was going to be promoted to the first team next season. Thiago’s brother, Rafinha, also earned a promotion as he made the leap to Barça B. The month would also be marred after Captain Puyol suffered an injury that would plague him for most of the second half of the season. January was also the month when the rumors of Barça coming to Miami for a summer friendly. Rumor had it that Barça would be coming to Miami in the summer to face AC Milan. That would later turn out to be false regarding Barça’s opponent only.

February

February kicked off with back to back 3-0 wins against Almeria, with new winter signing Ibrahim Afellay scoring his first goal for the club, and Atlético Madrid with the latter result setting a new league record of 16 consecutive league wins.  The club also announced the new rules for fans to become club members and was not embraced by some of the Blaugrana faithful. This month also saw the club see Xavi go down with injury. Xavi would bounce back but Puyol’s injury from last month would mean he would miss the away 1-1 draw to Sporting Gijon. Four days later, Barça would suffer an unjust 2-1 loss away in London to Arsenal in the first leg of the Round of 16 Champions League knockout stages. The month ended on a good note as the club bounced back with a win against Mallorca but the bigger news was the announcement that Guardiola would be back next season as Barça’s manager.

March

March saw the return of Xavi for the important encounter against Valencia as they managed to win away 1-0 in a game that featured Guardiola coaching with lower back pains. Following that victory, Guardiola was rushed to the hospital in Barcelona to seek treatment for a spinal disc hernia. Guardiola would return to manage the return leg against Arsenal that saw the team victorious 3-1 thanks to a Messi brace with the first goal ending up being nominated for goal of the year by FIFA.  No doubt Van Persie’s sending off was crucial but Mascherano’s last ditch tackle on Bendtner to deny him a golden scoring chance will be forever remembered.

Barça though were rocked after doping allegations from a radio station in Madrid following their exciting 1-1 draw away to Sevilla. The report linked the club, along with Valencia to doping practices by its medical staff. The club released a statement on their official site denying the negative allegations and demanded an immediate retraction along with the threat of legal action in order to defend the club’s name and honor. Cadena COPE did later apologize for the report but did not retract the report. The reporter who made the allegation further explained that the information came from Real Madrid.

Barça’s month though took a turn for the worse a day later when the club announced that defender Abidal was out indefinitely with a liver tumor. This announcement rocked the football world and shocked Barça fans who were witnessing Abidal fill in superbly in Puyol’s absence as a center back. Additionally, it was also announced that Barça B manager, Luis Enrique would be leaving the club at the end of the season where he would end up taking the Roma position. The end of the month saw another Barça defender in the news, but for a good reason, when the club announced that the beloved Dani Alves signed a new deal to remain with the club. It was also unveiled that Barcelona would be facing Manchester United in a summer friendly on US soil.

April

By far, April was the most important month of 2011. April saw Barça extend their league lead to eight points following Real Madrid’s surprising loss at home to Sporting Gijon. This was a great way for the club to kick off a new month and they followed that up with an impressive 5-1 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk at the Camp Nou in their first leg of the Champions League Quarter-finals that all but assured that Barça were heading to yet another Champions League Semi-finals. With Real Madrid also victorious in their first leg against Tottenham, an El Clásico Semi-finals were on the horizon which meant that April would become the month of El Clásico with four scheduled matches between the arch rivals.

Barça all but sealed the league in the first El Clasico of the month when they went to the Bernabéu and managed to hang on for a 1-1 draw which saw both Messi and Ronaldo score from the spot. This game also saw the return of the captain, Carles Puyol, for the first time in months from his injury. The second encounter between the two rivals a few days later would end in disappointment for Barça fans as an extra-time goal from a Ronaldo header was enough to win the Copa Del Rey. Puyol did not feature in this encounter but was on the substitute’s bench. Mourinho had won his first title as a Real Madrid manager with his team being criticized by the Cules as too dirty and physical.  Guardiola promised that his team would recover and his team did when they defeated Osasuna 2-0 in league action.

Barça then had to prepare for another trip to the Spanish capital for the third battle against Real Madrid; this time in European competition. Prior to kick off, Guardiola went off on Mourinho in a press conference that caught the Spanish media by surprise. His fiery words were welcomed by his players who were rumored to have given their manager a standing ovation. The first leg saw both teams play to a scoreless draw before the tides turned when Pepe was sent off for a foul on Dani Alves that still has people talking about it to this day. Messi would then grab a brace with the first goal coming from a well timed tap in courtesy of a well delivered cross from the Dutch substitute Afellay. Messi’s second goal would be one for the ages as he managed to dribble past four Madrid players before slotting the ball past Casillas.

Many believed that the two goal deficit all but assured that Barça would be going to another Champions League final. Even Mourinho said as much in his much mocked press conference following the defeat that saw him get sent off to the stands following Pepe’s red card.  Barça’s culmination to a wonderful month came to a disappointing end when they suffered their first away loss of the season and their first loss since September by losing to Real Sociedad. Fortunately, Real Madrid also suffered another loss at home to by falling to Real Zaragoza which kept Barça’s lead atop of the standings to remain at eight points.

May

Of course there were going to be some fallout after Barça’s 2-0 win in Madrid and both clubs lodged protests with UEFA. One of the big issues was the accusation that Busquets uttered a racial slur towards Marcelo. It caught everyone a bit off guard and the video evidence from Madrid was murky at best which was ridiculed by many Blaugrana fans.  After all the protesting and whining, the second leg kicked off with Mourinho relaxing in his hotel room. The first half ended in a scoreless draw and the second half saw Madrid had a goal disallowed which brought the chants of “Por Que?” from the Barça fans who were mocking Mourinho’s rant. The game would end in a 1-1 draw with Pedro’s goal being the nail in the coffin to give his side a temporary 3 goal aggregate lead before Marcelo reduced it back to a 2 goal aggregate lead. This result meant that Barcelona would be going back to Wembley for a second time for a shot at winning the Champions League trophy for a 4th time. What made this result even more memorable was the unexpected return of Abidal when he came on as a substitute in the dying seconds of the game. He would feature in the next four matches leading to up to the Champions League final.

Barça then shifted their focus on their league campaign and defeated their derby rival Espanyol 2-0 before traveling away to Levante and left with a 1-1 draw. That draw meant that the club had clinched their third consecutive league title and 21st in club history. With the league title secured, Guardiola had 13 days to prepare for Manchester United and rested most of his starters against Deportivo La Corona, which ended in a goal less draw, and away against Malaga, which ended in a 3-1 victory. This month also saw the club unveil the new kits for the next season.

The big day arrived on May 28th as Barça were back in Wembley for the first time since 1992. The venue was where Barça captured its first ever Champions League title back when it was called the European Cup. This game saw Puyol on the bench but Abidal was in the starting lineup. Barça struck first with Pedro scoring early in the first half. Wayne Rooney scored the equalizer as both teams entered the half even at one goal apiece. The second half though would belong to Barça as they clinched their fourth ever Champions League title with Messi scoring the go ahead goal with a well taken effort from outside the box and soon afterwards, David Villa sealed the outcome with a beautiful curling shot. All three forwards scored from assists from each midfielder. The victory was further remembered after Puyol’s classy gesture of handing over the captain’s arm band to Abidal which allowed the French defender to hoist the Champions League trophy.

The season came to a wonderful end and the team celebrated in grand fashion. No doubt that this was Guardiola’s best performance as Barça’s manager and his team had eclipsed the “Dream Team” as the best in the history of the club. On the last day of the month, the club announced the team would be playing its first preseason friendly away in Croatia.

June

The month of June meant vacation for most of the players and the fans. The South American players however had to get ready for Copa America. It was a busy month for the club though as they announced the news that former Barça player and Rijkaard assistant coach, Eusebio, was going to replace Luis Enrique as Barça B’s manager. President Rosell was also busy when he came out with a statement warning Real Madrid over their conduct during the season which prompted Real Madrid to respond back. Rosell also saw to it that Thiago would sign a new deal to stay with the club. On a personal note, I was fortunate to fly down to Miami and relax. I also got to cover Miami’s version of el Clásico between two local teams under the guise of Barça and Real Madrid that featured some of the Miami Penya players representing Barça.

July

Barça kicked off July by signing Pedro to a new contract, finalizing the transfer of Alexis Sanchez from Udinese and the transfer/loan of Bojan to Roma. The club also announced that they would be hosting Italian side Napoli in their annual Gamper Trofeo friendly. Barça also kicked off their summer preseason with a victory in Croatia against Hadjuk and also capturing the Audi cup after defeating Brazilian club Internacional and the hosts Bayern Munich. Thiago shined in the Audi Cup while the team suffered some bad news after Barça B player, Jonathan Soriano, suffered a serious injury that would see him miss most of the first half of the season.

With the club getting ready to tour the US, Guardiola opted not to call up any of his South American players with the exception of Adriano. Guardiola’s roster for the US tour thus consisted of first team and Barça B players.  UEFA also announced their top three players in contention for their Player of the year award with Messi and Xavi competing against Ronaldo for the award.

August

August would see Barça kick off their US tour with a loss to Manchester United in Washington D.C. with Ibrahim Afellay also suffering an injury that would force him to be out of action for a while. August would also be a very busy month for Barça Penya and Barça fans in Miami with the city hosting Barça’s second match of the US tour. The Penya members and fans had many events to look forward to and I was back in Miami again for all the festivities.

We first had Iniesta and Busquets appear at the Soccer Locker and take questions from fans in a packed Soccer Locker. Afterwards, Guardiola gave a press conference at the team’s hotel. Unfortunately, I missed the interview but I and my friend Alex managed to bump into Abidal and Keita and club delegate Carles Naval at the hotel. I also was lucky to meet other Barça fans such as Edwin at the hotel who were hoping to get a chance to meet the Barça players and was glad to know that Edwin and others were successful in meeting some of the players.

The club also had another event lined up that same day for a charity event featuring the wonderful Shakira and some of the club players such as Busquets, Puyol and Pique. Other club officials were present for this event, including the sporting director Zubizarreta, and Penya president Rafael Escofet got a chance to converse with them all. The following day saw some of the players get to swim with the dolphins at the Miami Seaquarium.  The evening would be even busier for the fans as the club had scheduled a late training session that coincided with a Penya dinner honoring Barça VP Jordi Cardoner i Casaus.

The training session was not open to the public and required a ticket for admission but kudos to the many fans whose presence and passion along with determination forced stadium officials to allow the fans in to see their players train. The dinner was also a success with gifts exchanged between the Penya and the club. There was also great Catalan food while the guests were entertained with the most recent Champions League final being replayed on a big screen. However, the biggest surprise of the evening was the Champions League trophy itself being present for everyone to enjoy. Many, including myself, made sure to get as many photos with that cup in this once in a lifetime situation. It was a wonderful night where I got to meet some new members of the Miami and Chicago Penya.

The game the following day against Chivas was not so memorable as Chivas defeated Barça 4-1. Muniesa suffered an injury and many fans were upset by what they had witnessed. I understood their frustration at the outcome but I didn’t think their anger was justified. It was a friendly and Pep had more things to worry about, such as the Supercopa. Barcelona concluded their US tour with a 2-0 over America. The club would then announce that Milito, Jeffren and Barça B starlet Romeu would be leaving the club.

Barça returned to Spain to face off against Real Madrid for the Supercopa. The first leg was in Madrid and saw Guardiola start some of the South American players who had not played in any of the summer friendlies. The first leg ended in a 2-2 draw that saw Barça came back from being a goal down with Villa and Messi scoring to give their side a 2-1 halftime lead. A Xabi Alonso goal in the second half was all the goals scored in the second half. The club then announced the transfer of Cesc from Arsenal that finally ended a pursuit that had been in the works for many years. The second leg would be an electric and feisty affair that saw both teams go back and forth before Messi sealed the outcome with his second goal with three minutes left in the game. The game then turned ugly when a melee occurred after Marcelo saw red for his rough challenge on the substitute Cesc, who was making his debut in the final minutes of the game. Players were pushing each other and in one incident, Mourinho was caught by the cameras trying to gouge Guardiola’s right hand man, Tito Vilanova, which resulted in Vilanova retaliating with a shove at Mourinho too.

In the end, Barça got to celebrate another title against their arch rivals. The team would then defeat Napoli 5-0 in the Gamper Trofeo before traveling to Monaco to face Porto for the UEFA Super Cup. The night before the game, Messi was awarded the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe Award and the team was grouped with Milan, BATE and Plzen in their Champions League group. Pique would suffer an injury during training and would miss the game. His absence would not haunt the club as Messi opened the scoring after being the beneficiary of a poor back pass and then assisted on Cesc’s goal to seal the outcome for yet another title for Pep. Barça then kicked off their domestic season with a 5-0 drubbing of Villarreal. The month ended on a high note when the Penya president, Rafael Escofet, was a guest on the Jorge Ramos y Su Bands show with the L.A. Real Madrid Penya president in an unforgettable and engaging discussion.

September

September saw the club hold its General Assembly where all proposals brought forward by FC Barcelona were approved such as the Qatar Foundation sponsorship deal. This month would see Messi and Valdés reach new milestones as Messi surpassed Kubala to be second in the club’s all-time scorer’s list while Valdés became the most capped keeper in club history. However, Valdés’s milestone came in a game where Barça squandered a two goal lead in San Sebastian in a disappointing 2-2 draw to Real Sociedad. A few days later, Barça would witness another match where they squandered yet another lead when they conceded goals against Milan in the first seconds and last seconds of the game in another 2-2 draw. Barça would rebound and demolish Osasuna 8-0 and then play to an exciting 2-2 draw away against Valencia.  The club ended the month with back to back 5-0 victories against Atlético Madrid and Bate with the latter being the match where Messi set his milestone.

October

October was a good month for the club where they managed five victories out of six. Their only non-victory was the goalless draw at home to Sevilla. Messi had a chance to get his side the three points in the end but his penalty effort was saved by the keeper, Varas, who played a great game. The only other issue that month was Barcelona B's slow start under Eusebio. Barça B are not duplicating last season’s form and results and it shows in the current standings. Barça would end the month of October without conceding a single goal but also unveil another young starlet, Isaac Cuenca. Cuenca’s rise through the ranks was impressive after rejoining the club during the summer. Cuenca was only a month into his debut with Barça B before injuries forced Guardiola to call him up to join the first team. He came on as a substitute against Plzen and scored his first ever team goal against Mallorca. The young player made the most of his opportunities and impressed Pep enough to make sure he would remain with the first team.

November

November would see Barça drop more points with another 2-2 draw away this time to Athletic Bilbao. It was a great game but the result did not help their league standings. Barça then won their first leg of the Copa Del Rey against L’Hospitalet 1-0 thanks to a wonderful goal from Iniesta and also defeated Zaragoza. The team then made the journey to Milan where they were victorious 3-2 in a thrilling encounter with former Barça player Van Bommel scoring an own goal before another former Barça player, Ibrahimovic, tied things up 1-1. Messi then scored the go ahead goal but Milan tied things up again in the second half courtesy of a great goal from Boateng. Fortunately, Xavi grabbed the winner courtesy of a sublime through ball from Messi. This result meant that Barça were going to finish as group winners.

This month also saw club president come out with the suggestion that the league should be reduced to 16 teams that was ridiculed by some but I agreed with his suggestion. Barça’s good fortune would not last long as they would suffer a huge setback when they lost away to Getafe to fall behind Real Madrid by 6 points. Many fans were upset, including myself, but the season was far from being over. The team rebounded back when they defeated Rayo Vallecano 4-0 in game pushed forward because of the club’s participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.  That victory reduced the gap back to three points.

December

December kicked off with the finalists of the FIFA Balon d’Or being announced and it was the exact duplicate of the UEFA award with Ronaldo, Xavi and Messi being selected as finalists again. The team also kicked off the month with impressive back to back victories over Levante and BATE with the Barça youth shining against the latter in a 4-0 victory. This meant that Barça headed to Madrid to face their bitter rival knowing a victory would temporarily eliminate the gap between the two teams atop of the standings. A loss on the other hand meant that Madrid could easily be ahead of Barça by nine points before the New Year.

El Clásico was another classic for the Blaugrana fans although it kicked off in nightmare fashion when Madrid scored in the first 30 seconds by Benzema. Valdés was to blame for the poor pass that was intercepted and lead to the goal although that could have been because of the lasers being pointed at his eyes. Nevertheless, Barça fought back and a moment of great skill from Messi set up Alexis who equalized to end the first half 1-1. The second half would be all Barça with Madrid ruing their misfortune. Xavi saw a shot take a deflection off of Marcelo that allowed the ball to get past Casillas for the go ahead goal. Later, after Ronaldo missed a golden scoring chance with his header going wide, Barça went down the field and doubled their lead when Cesc headed in a Dani Alves cross to all but seal the victory.

A great result for Barça as they scored an impressive victory against a very confident Madrid side and also taught us a lesson in never doubting the hearts of a champion. Barça would now shift their focus to the FIFA Club World Cup as they traveled directly from Madrid to Japan and trounced Qatari side Al-Sadd 4-0 to reach the final against Brazilian side Santos. The game was marred though with the news that David Villa would be out for probably five months after suffering a serious leg injury. While the club was away in Japan, UEFA held its draw for the Round of 16 knock out stage and Barça’s next opponent would be German club Bayer Leverkusen.

The final the world waited for kicked off a few days later with Barça facing Santos for the first time in a competitive fixture. The final was dubbed as Messi v Neymar but the final was over by halftime as Barça raced to a 3-0 lead with Messi, Xavi and Cesc scoring in the first half. For Messi, the goal meant he scored in 5 of the 6 club competitions this season, with only the Copa Del Rey left in his path. On the other hand, this goal also meant that Messi scored in all 6 club competitions in 2011. Messi would score another goal in the second half for a 4-0 victory that meant Barcelona had won its second ever FIFA cup and Guardiola picked up his 13th title as manager of FC Barcelona.

Back in Spain, Real Madrid defeated Sevilla to end the year on top of the Spanish league by three points. Barça flew back to Barcelona with just one game left to end a successful 2011. Barça hosted L’Hospitalet in the second leg of their cup and with the South American players already away on vacation. This meant that Pep had to field a roster full of Barça B players which would not hurt the team’s chances. Quite the contrary, the match saw some of the young players raise to the occasion as they defeated their opponents 9-0. The match was marred with another injury with Iniesta having to come off in the first half but fortunately his injury was not going to make him miss any matches due to the winter break.

So 2011 is coming to an end and boy has it been a great year for us Barça fans. Just one title away from another treble and who knows what we have in store for 2012. We saw players overcome tough adversity in terms of facing their bitter arch rival and also overcoming serious health scares. Even Guardiola suffered a health scare with his back problems with some joking that the pain was caused from Pep carrying the club on his back for the past few years. 2011 will be one of the history books but 2012 is shaping to be another interesting year for the club. We already know that there is a possibility that Barça could face Real Madrid in the Quarter-finals of the Copa Del Rey if both teams defeat their opponents in the Round of 16 stage. Barça will face Osasuna while Real Madrid will face Malaga. So brace yourselves, we might kick off 2012 with 2 Clásicos by the end of January. 2011 was a wonderful year and here’s hoping that 2012 will be just as rewarding for us Barça fans.

Hope all of you guys have a wonderful and happy New Year and may 2012 be a year of happiness, success and good health.

Hearts of Champions Should Never Be Underestimated.

Well El Clásico came and went and what a roller coaster it was. Barça’s 3-1 victory over their bitter arch rivals was fantastic for us Cules and served a lesson to all those who doubted them. You cannot underestimate the hearts of champions when it comes to this team and Pep.

Without a doubt, this past El Clásico was one for the ages. It had it all. It started off with a bang that sank our hearts just 22 seconds in and ended with all the Blaugrana faithful celebrating yet another impressive victory. Prior to kickoff, many expected Real Madrid to finally get the better of Barça with whispers that the cycle was coming to an end. Real Madrid had a 3 point lead and an extra game in hand so a victory would have meant Real Madrid could have had a 9 point lead before Christmas.

I won’t lie, I was upset when Barça lost away to Getafe but as I stated earlier, the team was down but not out. However, they had to make sure they did not suffer a defeat in the Santiago Bernabéu. Well, they did just that to temporarily go atop of the standings with their memorable 3-1 win. So what did we learn from that victory?

I believe former Houston Rockets coach, Rudy Tomjanovich, said it best after his team repeated as NBA Champions back in the mid 90’s; “Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion.” There had been some anticipation that Mourinho and Madrid were going to finally exact their revenge on Barça. Thankfully, that never came to fruition and that is because we should know to never underestimate the heart of a champion. Pep and his players have been through a lot over the years and it showed on Saturday that they were not ready to hand over the crown as La Liga’s best.

Pep and the players overcame a nightmarish start to a game when Valdés’s poor pass resulted in a goal just 23 seconds into the game. For some teams, that would have killed their confidence but this team brushed it off, after a shaky 20 minutes, to regroup and get the victory. A lot of that is due to the players not giving up in what they believe. Puyol and Abidal could have opted to avoid Valdes after that gaffe and just keep the ball clear from him and Valdes could have also opted to just not take chances and boot the ball all the way down to Casillas. However, they stuck to their guns and kept playing their game. Guardiola also made the right decisions against the so-called master tactician, Mourinho, and once again got the better of him.

Zonal Marking splendidly showed how Pep got the best of Mourinho in this encounter. Pep got the best of him in the Camp Nou after their historic 5-0 victory by playing Messi as a false 9 and on Saturday, Pep got the best of Mourinho again with his tactics. Busquets dropped back, Puyol covered Alves on the right, and, after struggling in the first half, Cesc figured out what Pep wanted him to do which resulted in him scoring in the second half.

This victory sure seemed easy when the club scored their third goal with plenty of time to spare. They seemed relaxed and composed which begs the question; why can’t they start games like this? If there is one slight imperfection that bothers me about this team, and it is slight, it is the team’s start to some big games. We have seen them twice struggle in the first ten minutes in both Champions League finals against Manchester United and this match on Saturday is no different. This also was the case in the 2006 Champions League final in Paris. Pep is always going to be busy but he really needs to come up with a solution to get his team ready from the opening whistle.

This victory also showed us just how vital Puyol is to the team’s success. Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and others get credit for helping this team get the goals but make no mistake about it; Puyol is a big reason why this team is so successful.  As Sid Lowe mentioned in his column today, Puyol has now gone 44 consecutive games unbeaten and it is no coincidence that he was absent in Barça’s past seven defeats. His presence was key back in last season in the Champions League semi-finals against Real Madrid. It’s not because of his defending but because of his leadership. After Madrid’s opening goal, Puyol gestured to his fellow teammates to go back to the center of the pitch and get ready for kickoff. He basically told them to get over it and move on. He also kept passing the ball back to Valdes in a show of support that the team believes in him. Puyol is one player that cannot be replaced and one of my favorite memories of the great defender was hi shoving Pique to get him to stop trash talking and get his mind back on the game after Pepe’s sending off in the Champions League last season.

Finally, this victory also proved once again that Messi is the world’s best player. While Messi worked hard for his team to get the victory, Ronaldo was showing his mental weakness with his sad facial expressions and his selfishness to outdo Messi.  The problem is that Messi is not doing this for himself, but for the team. He set up the first goal and worked hard on both sides of the pitch to make his team better. Messi shined while Ronaldo played the defeated role. Ronaldo should have buried his chances and I think had he got in the way of Benzema on that cross that the Portuguese international headed wide. In a stadium where Maradona, Ronaldinho and even Iniesta got applause, Ronaldo got jeered by his own fans.

If anything, the three finalists for the Balon d’Or should be Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, not Ronaldo. Those players rise to the occasion time and time again and all three deserve to be nominated again for their performances. Iniesta was simply amazing and he should be the one standing there on the podium next month with Messi and Xavi for the FIFA Balon d’Or. It could happen again next season where all three might be standing on the podium. Instead, Messi and Xavi will be standing there and whoever wins it, Messi is the favorite, will no doubt thank his fellow teammates. They all know they need and depend on one another for their success. That will be put to the test when they try to capture their second ever FIFA Club World Cup title this week.

FC Barcelona's Competition for The Upcoming FIFA Club World Cup

 

The FIFA Club World Cup will kick off tomorrow in Japan when Kashiwa Reysol host Auckland City FC. FC Barcelona won’t be playing till next week when they face the winner between Espérance and Al-Sadd. This will be the club’s fourth attempt to win this trophy and third time participating in the FIFA Club World Cup. Barça won this competition two years ago after defeating Argentinean club Estudiantes and will attempt to become the first side to win this competition twice. Here is a little background info on the other teams that Barcelona is competing with for the cup.

The tournament will kick off tomorrow with a match between Japanese League champions Kashiwa Reysol hosting the 2010–2011 OFC Champions winners, New Zealand’s Auckland City FC. The winner of that match up would then face the Mexican club, Monterrey, who are the 2010-2011 CONCACAF Champions League winners in the Quarterfinals. The winner of that Quarterfinal match meets the Brazilian club, Santos, the 2011 Copa Libertadores winner, in the Semifinals.

Tunisian club, Espérance, the 2011 AFC Champions League winners will face the Qatari club, Al-Sadd who won the 2011 AFC Champions League in the only other Quarterfinal. The winner of that Quarterfinal match will meet our beloved Barça, 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League winners, in the other semifinal. As usual, many have predicted that the final will be once again between the champions of Europe and South America, but as last year’s edition proved when Congolese club TP Mazembe pulled the upset when they defeated Brazilian side Internacional, so you never know. Here are the clubs competing in this year’s tournament:

Kashiwa Reysol (Japan)

Founded in 1940.

The Japanese club just won their first ever Japanese league title last week after their first back from the second division. They have something in common with Barça in that Hristo Stoichkov played for both clubs in the 90’s. Hristo Stoichkov joined the club for a season in the late 90’s, after he had left Barça, and before coming to the MLS. Former Brazilian striker Careca also played for them in the early part of the 90’s.

They qualified for this tournament as current champions of the host nation.

Auckland City FC (New Zealand)

Founded in 2004.

Auckland have won four league titles and have won three Oceania Club Championships 2005-2006, 2008-2009, & 2010-2011.

They qualified for this tournament as current Oceania Club Championships champions and marks their third appearance in this tournament. Coincidentally, they have participated in this competition every time Barcelona have also participated; 2006, 2009 and this year’s edition.

They lost to African Champions, Egyptian side El Ahli 2-0 the first time in 2006 and then lost in the fifth place play-off 3-0 to Asian Champions League winners, Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. They finally won their first game of this competition back in 2009 when they defeated the hosts, UAE league champions  Al-Ahli before falling to CONCACAF Champions League winners, Mexican side Atlante who then lost to Barça in the Semifinals.  Auckland City did end that tournament on a positive note when they defeated African Champions, TP Mazembe, to decide fifth place.

Monterrey (Mexico)

Founded in 1945.

Monterrey have won their league four times - México 86, Clausura 2003, Apertura 2009, & Apertura 2010.

Monterrey have won the CONCACAF Champions League twice – 1993 & 2010-2011.

Club de Fútbol Monterrey qualified for this tournament as the defending CONCACAF Champions League winners. Some of Monterrey’s players have faced Barça in the past with Chilean striker Humberto Suazo playing against them during his short stay with Real Zaragoza during the 2009-2010 season. Argentinean forward Cesar Delgado also played against Barça during his playing days for Lyon in the Champions League during the 2008-2009 season in both legs of the first round of the knock out stages. Full back Ricardo Osorio has experience playing against Messi, Dani Alves and Mascherano from his international playing days for Mexico.

Espérance (Tunisia)

Founded in 1919.

Espérance have won the Tunisian League 24 times; 1942, 1959, 1960, 1970, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, & 2011.

Espérance have won the African Champions League twice - 1994, & 2011.

Espérance Sportive de Tunis are competing in this competition for the first time after winning the African Champions League and have had as many as eight players get recent call ups to the Tunisian national team.

Al-Sadd (Qatar)

Founded in 1969.

Al-Sadd have won the Qatari League 12 times: 1971-1972, 1973–1974, 1978–1979, 1979–1980, 1980–1981, 1986–1987, 1987–1988, 1989–1989, 1999–2000, 2003–2004, 2005–2006, & 2006–2007.

Al-Sadd have won the Asian Champions League twice: 1989 & 2011.

Al-Sadd Club qualified for this are competing in this competition for the first time and they too share a common link with Barça. They both had Brazilian goal scorer Romário play for both of them. Romário however only played 3 matches with them back in the 2002-2003 season. They are managed by the well traveled Uruguayan, Jorge Fossati.

 

Santos (Brazil)

Founded in 1900.

Santos have won 19 Campeonato Paulista titles: 1935, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1984, 2006, 2007, 2010, & 2011, and have won 8 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A titles: 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 2002, & 2004.

Santos have won the Copa Libertadores three times:  1962, 1963, & 2011.

Santos won the predecessor of this competition, Intercontinental Cup, twice back in 1962 and 1963.

Santos Futebol Clube qualified for this tournament after winning the Copa Libertadores and are one of the most well known clubs in the world due in large to being Pele’s club during his playing days in Brazil which spanned over 600 games. Currently, their best players consist of Paulo Henrique Ganso, Elano, Leo, Borges, and a certain Neymar that Barça is rumored to be close to signing.

Barça’s Keirrison played for Santos on loan last season. Barça also had other former Santos players play for them such as defender Marinho Peres in the mid 70’s and Giovanni Silva de Oliveira who moved from Santos to Barcelona in the late 90’s. Argentina’s World Cup winning manager, César Luis Menotti, played for Santos back in the 60’s before managing FC Barcelona in 1984.

Once again, the competition kicks off tomorrow with FOX Deportes and Fox Soccer Channel broadcasting the games. They will play their first game, on Thursday, December 15, at 5:15 AM Miami time and if they win and advance to the final, they will play the final on Sunday, December 18, also at 5:15 AM.

 

Euro 2012 to be the final great Euro Cup.

Get ready folks. Euro 2012 is coming up this summer and following yesterday’s draw, this will be another exciting tournament. Sadly, it will also be the final Euro Cup that will be considered great. In my opinion, UEFA’s decision to expand it from 16 teams to 24 teams for the 2016 edition will extinguish the flame that made this tournament great.

The draw for this summer Euro 2012 group stages took place last week and once again, the draw reminded me why this is my favorite tournament in football. Where else can you get a group with three European champions? Where else can you get arch rivals meet at the group stage? World Cup? Rarely. Copa America? Not that often. The Champions League does come close in terms of providing us a sort of the Best of the Best in Europe competition. However, nothing can top the Euro Cup.

My first ever football memories were that of Euro 88 when Holland finally won their first ever tournament and put to rest the despairs of their shortcomings in the past. Since then, I have been following them as they continued to break my heart in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 Euro cups. In my opinion, this summer presents the final time that the Euro cup will be special. UEFA’s president, and former winner of the Euro cup, Platini will be expanding the Euro cup from the current 16 teams to 24 for the 2016 edition. I hope that somehow that will never be implemented but I don’t the chances of that happening any more than the chances of FIFA switching venues for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

I have always gotten grief about my belief that the Euro Cup is harder to win than the World Cup. I still stand by that statement. In the past, it was hard just to qualify for the Euro cup. Before 1996, only 8 countries qualified for the tournament. 8. Defending champions Spain failed to qualify in 1992 and even the Italian national team failed to qualify in 1992 along with three other times after winning the tournament in 1968. Can you imagine a World Cup or Euro Cup now where Italy and Spain are not present? For some reason, this one tournament that did not have its usual teams until it expanded to 16 for the 1996 Euro Cup. The change was needed after UEFA expanded from 33 countries to 47 teams after 1994.

16 teams did double the number of participants but it did not dilute the competition. Unlike the World Cup or the Champions League where more is not better, doubling the number of nations fighting for the Euro Cup was a boost. The big factor that differentiated between the Euro Cup and the World Cup were the group stages. The World Cup now might have one group of death but most of the time, we know which teams will advance from their groups along with the odd surprise such as France and Italy’s elimination from this past World Cup group stage or France and Argentina’s shock elimination back in 2002.

However, most group stages never pack a punch like the Euro Cup. Euro 88 gave us a Germany, Spain and Italy group.  Euro 96 gave us a group consisting of France, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania, 3 of which were in the knockout stages of the previous World Cup that France failed to qualify for.  Euro 2000 gave us a group consisting of then defending World Cup champions with Holland and Denmark while England was grouped with Germany and Portugal and Romania. Euro 2004 gave us a group consisting of Holland, Germany and Czech Republic while the last edition of Euro 2008 gave us a group consisting of Holland, Italy and France. How often do you get those types of group stages where the previous World Cup finalists are grouped together?

On top of that, how often do you get to see arch rivals such as Holland and Germany, or England and Germany get grouped together? Brazil and Argentina? Only during the World Cup qualifiers and that started this past decade when Conmebol scrapped the two group stages to keep Brazil and Argentina separated. As a fan of the Oranje, getting to see Holland face Germany in the group stages is something to get ready for. Holland’s group this year will pit them once again against Germany and also against Portugal, the side that knocked them out of Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006.

Those group stages are a killer to get out of and if you do advance, you still have other teams that are no pushovers. When France won it all in 2002, they had to defeat Denmark and Euro 96 finalists Czech’s before losing to Holland in the final group stage match. They then had to face Spain, Portugal and Italy to win the Euro Cup for the second time. Spain had to defeat Russia, Sweden and then Greece before having to beat Italy, Russia and Germany for the cup. Denmark’s amazing story in 1992 saw them get invited at the last second to replace Yugoslavia and they survived a group that featured England, France and Sweden before defeating Holland and Germany.

As much as we all love the World Cup for what it is, it does not generate that much excitement till the final group stage match or the knockout rounds. It is diluted with teams that some would consider minnows that are out of their league. Even then, sometimes the knocks out stages fail to deliver us big games. Looking back at the 2002 World Cup, Germany made it all the way to the final without defeating a single European country. They tied with Ireland in the group stage and defeated Saudi Arabia and Cameroon before knocking out Paraguay, USA and South Korea before falling to Brazil in the final. Heck, even Brazil made it to the final by playing Turkey twice, Costa Rica, China, Wilmots’s inspired Belgium, and England. France did have its work cut out for it in 2006 when they had to go through Spain, Brazil and Portugal while Italy had to go through Ghana, USA, Czech Republic, Australia, Ukraine, and Germany before defeating the French.

I know the World Cup is no easy task and I expect some rebuttals in that if the Euro Cup is harder to win than the World Cup, then how come Denmark, Holland and Greece never won the World Cup. That’s not the point. Comparing the two tournaments in terms of level of difficulty is what I’m getting at. We will never see a World Cup group stage with Germany and Holland or Spain with Brazil, or Italy with Argentina as often as we would like. World Cup keeps its mega powers away from each other whereas the Euro Cup didn’t care. Can you recall the last time Germany was eliminated from a World Cup group? I recall Germany crashing out in 2000 and 2004. Prior to World Cup 2010, you had to go back to World Cup 1974 to see Italy crash out of a World Cup group stage while it happened to them twice in recent tournaments, Euro 96 and Euro 2004. Will we ever see a country win the World Cup playing a group with Holland and Italy before taking on the likes of Spain, Germany, Brazil and Argentina in the knock out stages? I highly doubt it. That’s the type of strength that the Euro Cup provides us with.

This summer, we are going to see England and France meet again like they in 2004. Holland and Germany meet again after recently being grouped together in Euro 2004 and also back in Euro 92. Sadly, this will probably be the last time we will get to enjoy a tournament with such group stages. Euro 2016 will see the teams expand from 16 to 24. This will lead to the introduction of two additional groups which will spread out the big teams and thus lessen the chances of seeing the same sort of groups we are accustomed to seeing. However, why mess with a good thing? 16 teams were more than enough and in a time where we are complaining of too many matches for players for both club and country, how does expanding lessen that dilemma?

So sit back and enjoy this great tournament one final time. The next one might be only exciting when it comes to the final group stage or the knock out stages, which is what we have right now with the World Cup and to a lesser extent, the Champions League. Here’s to the last toughest international football tournament.