Spanish giants FC Barcelona strolled to a comfortable 4-0 triumph Saturday against a local team in Hong Kong, that included a goal by new signing Thierry Henry.
Xavi, Samuel Eto'o and Henry opened the scoring in the 1st half before substitute Giovanni Dos Santos rounded off the win with a late 4th against a Happy Valley-Kitchee select team.
The triumph in front of a half-full Hong Kong Stadium, where just over 23,000 fans braved terrible weather conditions, helped FC Barcelona to complete a successful Asian tour.
FC Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard was delighted with his team's performance.
"Of course the difference in strength between the 2 teams was obvious. But, if you do not keep up a good level of organisation you can have given the opponent wings and hope. For that reason I was happy with the game," he said.
The Spanish giants dominated from the start, and a side that also included player forward Ronaldinho needed only twenty-one minutes to break the deadlock, with Spanish international midfielder Xavi finishing off a 3 man move.
Andres Iniesta slid through a pass after Eto'o had held up the ball outside the area, with Xavi poking home past goalie Fan Chun Yip.
FC Barcelona scored their 2nd 6 minutes later.
Thierry Henry, playing in his preferred position as a central striker, passed to Ronaldinho. The Brazilian pulled the ball back to Eto'o from the left, and the 26 year old made no mistake from the edge of the penalty area.
Henry netted a spectacular 3rd 10 minutes before the interval, diverting a 1st time Eto'o cross into the top corner with a diving header.
"I am happy that, thanks to the work that he is doing, he is growing in strength physically. He will not loose his head and the goal was only a normal thing for him," Rijkaard mentioned of Henry.
The 3 forwards left the game in the 61st minute and substitute Dos Santos completed the rout with a well-taken strike with only 8 minutes remaining.
The 18 year old Mexican sensation had taken a superb through-ball from Xavi in his stride and dispatched with ease for his 4th pre season goal.
FC Barcelona showed little signs of tiredness inspite of the wet, energy-sapping conditions.
Heavy rain made for a slippy pitch even though the Hong Kong fans would have been grateful that the match even had taken place. The city was hit by typhoon Pabuk Friday causing the game to be moved back by a day.
FC Barcelona now head back to Spain on the back of a successful tour. This win followed wins against Beijing Guoan and Yokohama Marinos.
The team did not concede a single goal during the tour and the successful integration of new transfers Thierry Henry and Yaya Toure will have given them belief that they can triumph back the Spanish league title from arch rivals Real Madrid.
"We still we have a way to go, however we can be satisfied. We worked really well," Rijkaard said.
They start their La Liga campaign in only 2 weeks with a trip to Racing Santander late August.
05 August 2007
Spanish giants FC Barcelona kicked off a 3 match Asian tour Sunday by cruising to a 3-0 triumph over Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan, before an adoring crowd in the Chinese capital.
An early breakaway goal by Mexican star Giovanni Dos Santos gave the Catalan side a 1-0 half time lead, later extended by goals from Andres Iniesta and Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho.
The 2 time FIFA World Player of the Year came on for the 2nd half despite questions over his fitness after bruising an ankle in practice the day before.
"He really would like to get into the game so we decided to allow him have some minutes," FC Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard mentioned after the match.
Not playing Ronaldinho was hardly an option, however. The club's appearance in China was promoted mostly on his status as China's favourite footballer, as judged by a recent fan poll, and his entry brought the largest cheer of the night from a near-capacity crowd of about 30,000.
FC Barcelona were far from full-strength, though, with Argentine player Lionel Messi staying home to rest following a gruelling Copa America 2007 campaign and Portuguese midfielder Deco away for the birth of his child.
But it made little difference as FC Barcelona's depth and superiority shone through, with Samuel Eto'o and forward Thierry Henry, newly acquired from English club Arsenal, threatening Guoan's goal on several occasions in the 1st half.
Yet it was Dos Santos who started the scoring when he burst through the defence in the 9th minute to run on to a pass from captain Xavi, lashing the ball past keeper Yang Zhi.
The exhibition match was timed with festivities marking the one year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and authorities who have launched several campaigns to stamp out coarse local habits warned fans to be on their best behaviour.
But the Chinese crowd, treated to the rare spectacle of top flight European football, proved too enamoured of the Spanish giants for anything however praise, cheering every Catalan attack.
Thirteen minutes after the break, Iniesta poked in FC Barcelona's 2nd following a cross from Eto'o, however the 2nd half did not totally belong to the Catalans.
Spurred by speedy winger Walter Martinez and his left side counterpart Du Wenhui, Guoan launched several 2nd half attacks that unhinged the FC Barcelona defence and roused the crowd, only to fizzle disappointingly in front of goal.
China is the 1st stop in an Asian tour that will see FC Barcelona next face the Yokohama Marinos in Tokyo Tuesday, followed by a match Friday in Hong Kong against a team of players from Kitchee FC and Happy Valley FC.
FC Barcelona are only one of lots of top clubs to have planned Asian tours, lots of lured by the prospect of a huge Chinese fan base. Man Utd, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Fulham, Portsmouth and Reading are among other teams that have visited the region.
01 August 2007
Italy fullback Gianluca Zambrotta has joined France defender Lilian Thuram in questioning the wisdom of FC Barcelona's 9 day pre season tour to Asia.
'It could be better to remain here and are preparing really well for next season. It is a long way and it is not easy for the players,' Zambrotta informed a news conference Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Thuram said, 'It is not good for the team's preparation however that is the way football is these days and all the world's big clubs do them (tours).'
Some of Barca's players, that included Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho, blamed last August's 2 week pre season tour to the U.S and Mexico as one of the reasons for their poor showing in the last campaign.
They mentioned the punishing schedule of promotional events, travelling and friendly games disrupted their training so they were not at peak fitness for when the season kicked off.
Barcelona finished 2nd in the Primera Liga and failed to win any major trophies last season.
However, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta brushed aside the players' objections.
'I respect all the different opinions however 2 years ago we did a pre season tour to Asia and went on to win the Champions League and the Primera Liga,' he informed a news conference.
'The tour is important for sporting and economic reasons, and to promote the image of the club around the world.'
The Catalan club's managers claim they have found out their lessons and have intended a shorter tour with fewer commitments.
They set out for Beijing Thursday and return to Spain on August 11, after having played 3 friendlies in 9 days.
On August 5, they face Beijing Guoan in the Chinese capital and 2 days later play Yokohama Marinos in Japan. On August 10, they take on the Mission Hills Invitation XI in Hong Kong.
30 July 2007
Beijing has started a crackdown on disruptive spectators at sporting events by detaining a 20 year old man who organised fellow football fans to shout abuse at matches, state media has reported.
As the one year countdown to the Olympics Games approaches, officials are concerned that rude or disruptive behaviour by Beijingers might mar next August's sporting spectacle.
The unemployed man, surnamed Hao, launched a website called "Capital JM Union" in March and called on Beijing Guoan fans to join him in abusing referees and other teams in the salty local slang known as "Jing Ma", the Shanghai Daily reported.
"The Jing Ma is a traditional cultural heritage of the old capital ... We loyal Guoan fans who like the Jing Ma are attending every match and following the organiser's instructions," police cited one posting on the site as saying.
"Let our Jing Ma dynamite Fengtai Stadium!" mentioned another posting that has not yet been deleted.
For "disrupting the order of major public events" the man was detained for 7 days and banned from entering Guoan's temporary home at Fengtai Stadium and all other football venues for 12 months.
5 of his fellow fans were fined and warned by the police.
The official Xinhua news agency mentioned Beijing police were stepping up their work on disruption at sporting events and the name of anybody breaking the law would from now on be recorded.
