Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez admits his side are powerless to stop Lionel Messi if he brings his best form into the Copa America quarter-finals.
Tabarez’s side meet Argentina in Santa Fe on Saturday in what will be the first meeting between the countries since 2009.
Both teams finished the group stage with identical records, picking up five points from the opening games to claim runner-up spots, and are pursuing a record 15th title of the South American football’s showpiece event.
But Tabarez concedes Barcelona phenomenon Messi will prove the difference if he repeats his match-winning heroics from Argentina’s 3-0 win over Costa Rica on Monday.
“He is going to cause trouble for us. That, as much as we want it to, will never disappear,” Tabarez told reporters.“There is a saying: ‘if you have a problem and the solution, why worry? And if you have a problem but not the solution, again why worry?’.”
Tabarez also affirmed that he has not chosen the 11 men who will be entrusted with downing Argentina on home soil.
“We still have to define some things. We have spoken with the players, but nothing is decided.”“Normally if I know the team I will play, I announce it quickly. This time, that is not the case.”
FC Barcelona have reached an agreement to loan Henrique Adriano Buss to Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras for one season. The Brazilian club assumes 100% of the rights to the player.
FC Barcelona and Palmeiras have agreed that the centre back will play in the Brazilian league for the 2011/12 season after spending the last three seasons on loan.
Henrique signed for Barcelona in the summer of 2008, but never got to make his official debut for the club, instead being sent out on loan to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, where he played 30 games. He then went from the Bundesliga to the Spanish Liga, where he spent two seasons on loan at Racing Santander, where he quickly won a place in the first team and made 26 appearance in the 2009/10 season and 35 in the 2010/11 season.
Xavi Hernandez, who on Wednesday visited his summer campus, said that FC Barcelona has "a team good enough to make history". The midfielder is very excited about the season that’s about to begin.Rested, and with new goals in mind. That’s how we now find Xavi Hernandez, who’ll return to training next Monday, when the team begins its preseason. "I'm ready to start" he said at the press conference that he offered at his summer campus, at the installations of the Sanctuari del Collell. Xavi stressed that the team has a squad good enough to continue making history. He is still very hungry.
Xavi on Alexis: “he can score and unbalance defences"
Many of the questions put to Xavi were about new signings. One of the names most mentioned was Alexis Sanchez. Xavi’s opinion about the Chilean player is that "In his repertoire he is great in a one on one situation, he can score goals, and he can unbalance defences. He’s dynamic, vertical, and direct". If his move to Barça is confirmed, Xavi said it would be a "spectacular" signing.
"Cesc is suffering"
The other name on everyone’s lips is Cesc Fabregas. Xavi acknowledged having spoken with Cesc in the Summer. "I spoke to Cesc in Ibiza and he said he was suffering, because he really wants to come. It’s what he most wants, he’s done everything he can to come and wants Arsenal to let him go" he said, although he did clarify that now everything depends on the selling club.
Bojan’s case
On the other hand, Xavi also commented on the possible departure of Bojan Krkic. "I'm sorry that he might leave, although a change of scenery might be the best for him" he said. On Fontàs and Thiago, both members of the 1st team squad from this season on, he is in no doubt. "Both players are ready, just like the other players in the squad" he concluded.
Record after record. Only the best player in the world can accomplish goals beyond the reach of most other players. Leo Messi is breaking all records and exceeding all limits. His latest feat is that he’s played 65 matches this season.
65 games that began on 21st of August, in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Sevilla, where Messi scored his first hat-trick of the season.
In the next game he played in, at Racing, Messi scored the fastest goal of his career, just 3 minutes into the match, becoming the 3rd leading scorer in club history with 131 goals. After putting together a streak of 10 consecutive games, scoring in all of them, he was nominated, along with Iniesta and Xavi for the Golden Ball award. On 10th of January, Messi became the youngest player ever to collect the award for the second consecutive time.
Leo has also broken records in the Champions League, being the top scorer for the third consecutive year with 13 goals.
As well as scoring in the Rome Final in 2009, he also scored at Wembley, where he got Barça’s second goal, the first one he had scored on British soil. Messi was named man of the match and recorded his fifteenth title with Barça.
After qualifying for the quarterfinals of the Copa America with Argentina in a game where he was just brilliant, Leo Messi can play even more than the 65 games, establishing an unbeatable record, and the best player in the world has only just turned 24.
Barça and Telefónica I+D have formed an alliance by signing a pioneering agreement on a global scale that will improve fans’ experiences in the stadium and apply science and technology to the sports world.
C Barcelona and Telefónica I+D’s agreement means the Camp Nou will be used as the testing ground for new and innovative technologies. As explained by president Sandro Rosell, "Barça seeks excellence. Sporting excellence and also excellence in new technologies”. Rosell signed today’s agreement along with the director general of Telefónica in Catalonia, Kim Faura, the director of Telefónica’s R+D centre in Barcelona, Pablo Rodríguez, and Barça’s director of new technologies, Dídac Lee, at Torre Telefónica, the telecommunications company’s headquarters in Catalonia.
Global pioneering agreement
The alliance will be implemented over three years in two main areas of collaboration: the incorporation of digital instruments to improve fans’ experiences in the Camp Nou and the application of science to the sports world. The former is based on social networks being increasingly present among viewers of Barcelona matches. For example, for the final at Wembley, more than 6,000 Twitter messages were sent a second and Barça received more than a million mentions around the world. This agreement, “the first in the world” according to Dídac Lee, will make FC Barcelona’s stadium the first venue to be used to test and improve new wireless and networked technologies to improve telephone coverage and provide the finest access for the use of social networks.
The latter involves the creation of a Doctorate in Science and Sport to study how scientific methods can be applied to improving performances in competitions in all sports.
had to have a tumour on his liver removed in March, and Barca stood by him throughout a difficult period.
