14.06.2007 13:33
Sandra Sarmiento/Marc Guillén
The players looked sharp and highly motivated in Thursday’s training session ahead of Sunday’s championship decider against Gimnàstic Tarragona.
The 19 available players appeared on the pitch of the Miniestadi at 10.30 am in front of about
150 enthusiastic fans. The session followed the usual routine of warm-up exercises followed by
practice in pairs of long passes.
Training matches
The session finished with two training matches of some 20 minutes each,
the first one in the middle of the pitch and the second on a three-quarter length pitch. The
players threw themselves into both matches with evident commitment.
Rijkaard divided his squad into two teams of ten players. With the yellow shirts - Valdés,
Márquez, Belletti, Oleguer, Gio, Xavi, Ezquerro, Saviola, Giuly and Eto’o; with the blue
shirt - Jorquera, Zambrotta, Thuram, Puyol, Sylvinho, Motta, Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Messi and fitness
coach Albert Roca.
VIP guest
The session was notable for the presence of the basketball player Kobe Bryant who did
not want to miss out on the chance of seeing Rijkaard's men train. Also, the Barça squad had a
visit from the Spanish national hockey side.