Samuel Eto'o thinks that the key to Barça’s success is training hard every day. When asked about how far the team could go, he said that their only limit was winning titles.
At his press conference this Monday at Camp Nou, Eto'o stressed the importance of training.
“If you look at the way we train, you know how we can play,” he commented. “If
you train hard every day, you might have an off-day but only one.”
The Reyno de Navarra game
Talking about this
Sunday’s game when he scored Barça’s first goal, Eto'o admitted that “we weren’t able
to handle the game in the first 15 or 20 minutes of the second half”, even though the team
then equalised and finally got the winner. “I don’t like playing with fire because you
might get burnt,” he remarked.
The Cameroon striker also praised the fans and the atmosphere at Reyno de Navarra where it is
an “honour” to play. He hopes Osasuna don’t go down to the Second Division.
Big lead
The win in Pamplona means the team is now
12
points ahead of second placed Real Madrid. However, Eto'o prefers not to think about Barça’s
pursuers. “I don’t want to focus on them because I’ve been down that way
before,” he argued. “And we can’t rest on our laurels either because we’ve
thrown away big leads before. We can’t afford to get tired of winning.”
Messi and Xavi, the best in the world
When asked about the winners of the FIFA gala to be held
this evening in Zurich, where Messi and Xavi are among the five finalists, Eto'o backed his
team-mates. “Messi and Xavi are the best,” he argued. Messi “plays a gear or two
above the rest” while Xavi “has been playing this well for years now”.
Contract extension for future
Eto'o didn’t want to talk about an extension to his contract. “The thing is that
it’s still far too early to discuss that,” he argued. “We’re not even
halfway through the League season and we don’t want to be distracted by stuff. When the time
is right we’ll talk about it. Right now I just want to think about training and games.”
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Players missing and returning
This Monday morning’s recovery training session was missed by Busquets, Messi and Xavi. The
first two have bruised right ankles while Xavi has a bruised left calf.
Pedro was back with the first team after training on Friday and Saturday with Barça Atlètic.
He scored two goals in the reserve’s 3-2 win on Sunday.
Also back was Víctor Sánchez, who on Thursday was diagnosed as having a muscle tear in his
right thigh. This Monday he started training with the squad.
The team will be back training this Tuesday at 11 am.