Alba cannot wait for his Barca bow after shining for Spain at Euro 2012

“I really want to play with Barcelona as soon as possible, especially after seeing what I could do with my future teammates during the Euros,” Alba told Goal.com.

“It is the best team in the world that has a very good football philosophy. Now I know many players [at Barcelona]. We understood each other and we will understand each other even better,” Alba said.

“I don’t think of myself as the surprise of the tournament, the coach has given me all the confidence in the world, both him and my teammates in fact,” Alba said. “The consequence was a good tournament, both individually and collectively and this is the result, we are champions, and deservedly so.”

Iniesta named Euro 2012 Player of the Tournament

UEFA has announced that Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta has been named the best player of Euro 2012.

The 28-year-old started in each of Spain’s six matches at the Euros and played a leading role in La Roja’s campaign in Poland and Ukraine – which culminated with a 4-0 thrashing of Italy in the final.

Iniesta, who was chosen by the 11-man technical team of UEFA, grabbed one assist in the 551 minutes he was on the pitch at the Euros.

He is also part of UEFA’s 23-man Team of the Tournament, which contains 10 players from Spain and four from Italy.

The Camp Nou, the most social stadium in the world

FC Barcelona’s stadium is named among the top 25 social landmarks in the world according to Facebook. Facebook’s study reaffirms FC Barcelona’s leadership in new technologies and especially on social networks.

The Camp Nou is, according to a recent Facebook study, one of the 25 most social landmarks on the planet. Barça’s stadium is the only football venue that features among the world’s top social landmarks. The study’s findings are based on anonymous aggregated check-in data from nearly one billion actions from Facebook users. Facebook collected data for the study from August of 2010 through May of this year.
Among the world’s top 25 landmarks there are 7 athletic venues, 6 parks, 2 theme parks, 2 concert venues and 2 commercial centers. The athletic venues, besides the Camp Nou, are Chicago Cub’s Wrigley Field and the San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park; Staples Center in Los Angeles, home of the Los Angeles Lakers; Rogers Center in Toronto; Tokyo Dome (baseball) and Eden Park in New Zealand.

Falcao unaware of Barcelona interest

Spanish sources claimed on Wednesday that the Catalan club was closely monitoring the situation of the Colombian star, who has been strongly linked with a new challenge after an impressive season at the Vicente Calderon.

“The truth is that I do not give any importance to what is being said,” he told reporters. “I do not know about those reports and I have not seen, heard or read anything.

Spain 4-0 Italy! All goals and highlights

Spain 4-0 Italy! All goals and highlights

Marcelo: Messi the world´s best

Brazil left-back Marcelo has heaped praise on Lionel Messi, saying the Argentine is the best player in the world.
Brazil will tackle Argentina on Saturday and will be looking to bounce back from Sunday’s 2-0 defeat against Mexico, which ended a run of eight consecutive victories.
Despite meeting Messi several times throughout the season at club level, Marcelo says there is always a special feeling to playing against the Barcelona star – whom he rated higher than his Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Right now, Messi is the best player in the world and it is a pleasure to play against him,” Marcelo told Globoesporte.
“We will see what happens, if we can mark him. Argentina are more attacking [than Mexico], so we will have space to play.
“But we need to be careful, because they can score goals easily. You cannot talk about one or two players only, but about their entire team.

“But we also have several good players and we will try to secure a good result.”

Jonathan dos Santos: “With Xavi and Iniesta football is much easier”

Mexican midfielder reflects on his season with Barça B and how he’s felt playing with the first team. Jonathan dos Santos also spoke of playing in midfield after featuring further forward in previous seasons.

B team youngster Jonathan dos Santos reflected on the team’s season, in which under Eusebio Sacristán they finished eighth, and also on his own campaign, which has also included five games with the first team. In the Spanish Cup, he figured in both games against Hospitalet and in the Champions League group game against Milan in Italy which ended 2-3 for Barça as well as starting in the 2-1 win over Real Sociedad in the league and playing in the game against Malaga. Dos Santos was also part of the squad that travelled to the World Club Cup in Japan.

How did you end the season?
“The team did a great job and we’ll take the memory of that last game and a very good season as a whole”.

Does it all seem so much easier when you play alongside the first team players?
“Yes, of course. Since we all know the philosophy that the first team have and we try and apply that in the reserve and youth teams, so that makes things easier. When you are playing with big stars like Xavi or Iniesta, football is an easy game”.

Now you start your holidays and then, in principal, you’ll be joining the first team for pre-season training?
“In principal, yes – but right now I just want to focus on my holidays –whatever comes after that is something I’ll hope to make the most of”.

The Gamper: Three Italian teams in as many years

All of Barça’s rivals in the Joan Gamper Trophy since 2010 have been from Italy. Milan, Naples and Sampdoria are the last three teams to feature in Barça’s summer tournament.

The Camp Nou is becoming a frequent visiting spot for Italian teams. In fact, three Italian sides have featured in the last three editions of the Joan Gamper Trophy: Milan in 2010, Naples in 2011, and Sampdoria in 2012. The Genoa side is the seventh Italian team to play in the preseason match organized by Barça.

Three consecutive Italian sides

The Azulgranas have won the last two editions of the Gamper. Against Milan, in a match that served to pay tribute to Ronaldinho, victory was had after a penalty shootout. Against Naples, in August of last year, Barça convincingly won by 5 to 0. Sampdoria will be the third Italian team to feature in the Gamper in as many years. Even since the tournament’s format was changed to a single match (1997), there have never been three consecutive teams from the same country feature in preseason match.

Barça to receive the Fair Play Award on July 10

The RFEF will award the Fair Play Award to FC Barcelona for being the least-penalized team of the 2011/12 Liga season. FC Barcelona and Málaga, both teams with 91 points, are this year’s winners.

FC Barcelona will receive the Fair Play Award on July 10 for being the least-penalized team in Primera in the 2011/12 Liga season. The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) will present the trophy to Barça at the General Assembly conference, which will be held at the Ciudad del Fútbul of Las Rozas.

FC Barcelona and Málaga finished the season with an overall score of 91 points.

Second consecutive award

This is FC Barcelona’s second consecutive Fair Play Award, and its fourth since the award was established in 1998. Furthermore, Barça are the team in Primera that have the most Fair Play Awards (2005/06, 2008/09, 2010/11 and 2011/12).

Lionel Messi-Fc Barcelona 2012

Lionel Messi-Fc Barcelona 2012

Catalonia Super Cup to be played on July 31

FC Barcelona will play against Espanyol in the Catalonia Super Cup on July 31 (21:30) at Montjüic.

FC Barcelona will face off against Espanyol in the Catalonia Super Cup on Tuesday, July 31 at 21:45 at Montjüic. Additionally, at 19:15 in the same venue, Nàstic Tarragona and Manlleu will play in the final of the Catalonia Cup.

New format

This is the first edition of the Catalonia Super Cup, which is contested over the period of a single game.

The Catalan Football Association states that “the new format of the Cup and the Super Cup was adopted in order to provide the level of prestige and recognition that these competitions deserve. This format will utilize this format in this edition and future editions of the competition, with the overarching goal of providing a benefit to Catalan football.”

Messi: Barcelona made my dream come true

Lionel Messi has credited Barcelona for helping him realize his “dream” of becoming a professional football player.The Argentina international joined Barca at the age of 13 and has won the Ballon d’Or three times since making his debut in 2004.
Messi says that he always dreamt of playing football at the highest level and spoke of Barcelona’s importance in making that happen.”Since I was three or four years old, I dreamt of becoming a footballer,” he told Caracol TV. “I was walking around with a football and all I wanted was to play. My only thought was to become a footballer, I did not think about doing anything else. If I could not have become one, I actually do not know what I would be today.
“I do not know what Barcelona saw in me, but I will always be grateful to them for what they did and what they keep doing. At that time, I was on a very expensive medical treatment and they covered all the costs and gave me the opportunity to play.
“This was something very beautiful, because they allowed me to realize my dream.”

De Boer: Vertonghen should go to Barcelona

De Boer is resigned to losing the talented 24-year-old but believes he should shun Premier League advances in favour of a move to Barcelona. Vertonghen has long been the subject of speculation and a host of teams – including Arsenal and Tottenham – are reportedly vying for his services.
Asked if he has played his last game for Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena, he answered: “That’s almost sure, yes.”
Vertonghen has made over 150 appearances for Ajax, scoring 22 goals since graduating from the club’s world renowned academy.

Lionel Messi: “Pep will always have my respect. I will always cherish him”

Messi: “it’s been a great pleasure to share so many good moments with Pep over these last few years!”
Barcelonistas gathered at the stadium on Saturday night to wish Guardiola a heartfelt farewell as the manager coached FC Barcelona for the last time at the Camp Nou after four successful years on the Barça bench. The tone for the night was set as the manager led his team out onto the pitch and was greeted by a massive banner, unfurled by Barça supporters, that read ‘We love you, Pep!’ The ensuing 90 minutes offered up the perfect platform for both the players and the fans to show the manager the truth of that statement. Guardiola, visibly touched by the displays of affection from the stands, was also the recipient of an intimate gesture of gratitude and respect from the world’s best player.
“Pep will always have my respect, I will always cherish him. He’s been very important in my career

Agreement to end Henrique’s contract

FC Barcelona has announced that Henrique Adriano, who is on loan at Sociedade Esportiva Palmeirasuntil June 30, will terminate his contractual relation with the Club on that date, despite his contract originally binding him to FC Barcelona until June 30, 2013.
After coming up through the ranks at Coritiba Football Club in Brazil, Henrique signed for FC Barcelona in July 2008 from Palmeiras. He was immediately sent out on loan to Bayer Leverkusen until June 2009. He then rejoined Barça for the summer preseason tour, but then went on loan again, this time to RacingSantander, where he played for two seasons, playing 57 league matches and scoring 3 goals. In July 2011, he left for a year’s loan spell at Palmeiras.

FC Barcelona have scored 103 league goals a season

FC Barcelona has amassed 412 league goals in four seasons, including 114 in the competition that has just ended, an all-time club record. This is a team that has been breaking records in every department. In the season just ended, the team managed to set a new all-time best of 114 goals in a league season.
Guardiola’s sides have achieved four of the six highest goalscoring records in the entire history of the championship. In 2008/09 they got 105, setting a new record. In 2009/10, they got 98, in 2010/11, 95, and this season scored more than three goals a game to get a new record of 114.

Dani Alves hoping Barcelona signs Neymar

Dani Alves has admitted that he would love to see Neymar join Barcelona, describing the Santos starlet as a phenomenon.
“I think he is a phenomenon and he would be a great signing for any team in the world,” the right back told Mundo Deportivo. “If he signed for Barca, I’d be very happy.”
“We have faced him and yes, he is very good,” the 29-year-old enthused. “All players who offer something different are welcome and I think that Jordi is a player who brings with him speed, audacity and the Barca style. He could fit into our game because our full backs are so attacking.”
I will be very happy if Neymar join us