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02.08.2009 07:11
Biggest crowd since 94 World Cup 94
David Saura (enviat especial)
The treble winners showed they can pull in the crowds in The States when 93.137 turned up at the Rose Bowl for Barca’s opening US Tour game, the biggest crowd at a game in the US since the 1994 World Cup.
Just as they did in their 2007 Tour when they played Chivas in the Olympic Stadium, Barca again filled an LA Stadium, showing their immense pulling power in California.
This wasn’t a
normal crowd figure for a football game in the US by any means, LA Galaxy’s match against AC
Milan in July for instance drew just 27,000 supporters to The Home Depot Centre. Neither was the
media coverage at the level normally expected for this kind of event, with over 400 media
accredited professionals covering the game.
Barca shirts in the majority
Inside the ground it was clear which fans were dominant with the Barca
colours in a clear majority over the Galaxy. Although Beckham’s number 23 shirt was clearly
the LA fans favourite, he suffered continuous barracking from the crowd, which only stopped
momentarily when he scored his brilliant goal.
Bobby Robson remembered
There was a moment’s silence for the late Sir Bobby Robson before
the game and the Barca players all wore black armbands in his memory.
In addition all the Barca players wore United Against Malaria (UAM) in the pre match warm up as part of Barca’s commitment to the campaign presented in LA on Friday.
Iniesta trains alone
Iniesta, who was not in the squad for the game, had a gentle run out before the game accompanied by
the physio Lorenzo Buenaventura. The midfielder, who had trained alone in the morning, worked out
for about 20 minutes on the Rose Bowl pitch.
