12 possible Barça debuts at the Clubs World Cup

Tokyo (FCB).- Although they are all used to top level competition, 12 of the 23 players in the FC Barcelona squad in Japan have yet to play in the Clubs World Cup. These are Cesc Fàbregas, Villa, Alexis, Thiago, Pinto, Mascherano, Maxwell, Adriano, Fontàs, Cuenca, Oier and Dos Santos. Pinto, Maxwell and Dos Santos were in the squad in 2009, but didn’t play in either match. In addition, Valdés, Puyol, Iniesta and Xavi are going for the third time. Barça Manager, Pep Guardiola, faces this competition for the third time: two as coach (2009 and 2011) and one as player (1992). Before this Tuesday’s training session in Yokohama, in solidarity with Japan’s people, Barça players and technical staff met with children from the area of Fukushima, which had to abandon their homes due to the nuclear accident.

Yokohama 2006 – Abu Dhabi 2009 – Yokohama 2011

There are eleven survivors from the first time Barça won the Clubs World Cup in 2009: Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Keita, Messi, Pedro and Iniesta. The four captains (Valdés, Puyol, Iniesta, Xavi) were also in the team that played in the tournament in 2006, but FC Barcelona were then beaten in the final by Internacional of Porto Alegre.

Guardiola’s third

It is also Pep Guardiola’s third taste of the competition. He lost as a player in 1992 against Sao Paulo (2-1), but 17 years later (in 2009) savoured victory as manager in Abu Dhabi against Estudiantes of La Plata (2-1).