FCBARCELONA.CAT

13.09.2007 19:33

Rijkaard gets squad back

Jesús Carrillo / Anna Segura

Following the international break, the Barca squad were back in full training at La Masia this evening and Rijkaard was able to count on an almost full squad, with just Giovani, Ronaldinho, Márquez and Gudjohnsen not returning in time.

Rijkaard began his preparations for Sunday evening’s game against Osasuna with most of his internationals back, including Bojan, who has rejoined the first team squad after being away since early August with the Spanish under-17 squad at the World Cup in Korea

Amb Rijkaard

Rijkaard himself led the session after recovering from the heavy cold that meant him missing the Catalan Cup final in midweek Training started with the usual warm up and ball control exercises, with Carles Puyol working on his own recovery programme and Thuram, who played the full 90 minutes for France also working apart from the group.

Four Absentees

Giovani Dos Santos, Márquez, Ronaldinho and Gudjohnsen missed training afterfailing to make it back intime from their international commitments. Marquez, Givanni and Ronaldinho played in Boston on Wednesday, but not even a private jet laid on to Milan by the Brazilian Football Confederation could get Ronaldinho back in time, whilst Gudjohnsen won’t get back from Iceland until tonight..

Short training session

After the ball control work, the players did some physical exercises before the internationals who featured in midweek and Sylvinho left the session, whilst Valdés, Jorquera, Ezquerro, Oleguer and Thierry Henry put in some circuit training and shooting practice.