Brazil reaches the quarter-final stage

The World Cup hosts have advanced to the quarterfinals of the competition after a thrilling match against Chile in the Round of 16. 

The Brazilians, with Dani Alves and Neymar Jr playing the full 90 minutes, downed their South American counterparts in a penalty shootout. 

Alexis and Bravo’s Chile put in a terrific performance, and nearly eliminated the hosts in extra time when a late effort crashed against the crossbar.

Despite Brazil’s superiority, Chile threatened to level on the counter. Alexis and Vargas both enjoyed chances, and just after the half-hour mark, Chile scored the equaliser. 

A sloppy error in defence from the Brazilians saw the ball fall to Alexis alone in the area and the FC Barcelona forward slotted the ball home to send the sides in level at the break. 

In the second half, Chile was more aggressive. The ball rarely left Brazil’s half of the pitch for most of the half, and Julio Cesar was called on to make a fantastic save to keep his team in the competition. Hulk scored but his goal was disallowed for a handball. Scolari’s men surged forward in the dying minutes of normal time, but Bravo did well to avert the danger.

From the 11-meter mark, Julio Cesar saved two shots and Neymar Jr, Brazil’s fifth shooter, scored to put his team ahead. On the Chilean side, Alexis missed his penalty and Bravo saved Hulk’s shot, but with Chile's fifth attempt, Jara’s hit the woodwork and sent Brazil to the quarterfinals.

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Ter Stegen will play for FC Barcelona squad

Marc-André Ter Stegen is one of the new signings for the 2014/15 Barça squad. Football Director, Andoni Zubizarreta and the Board of Directors announced the news. 

In addition to the news regarding the German keeper, the Board announced that José Manuel Pinto will no longer defend Barça’s goal now that his contract has expired. 

The Board of Directors has thanked the professionalism and dedication of  José Manuel Pinto throughout his time at the Club. Pinto arrived in January of 2008 as Albert Jorquera’s replacement. He played a total of 73 games and won 16 titles. 

Born in Mönchengladbach on April 30th of 1992, Marc-André Ter Stegen is considered to be one of the keepers with the highest potential in European football. 

He made his first team debut with Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2011, at the age of 18, and since then, he’s consolidated his starting keeper status with the first team. He was crucial to his team in the last three seasons and in the 2011/12 season he was named best keeper of the Bundesliga. 

Standing 189 centimeters tall, he dominates areal play and is known for his natural ability and quick reflexes. Despite his young age, he’s a player with a lot of personality and experience thanks to his three years in the Bundesliga and with the German national team. After a long career in Germany’s youth teams, in May of 2012 he made his debut with the national team against Switzerland.

His performances, in which he demonstrated an aptitude in goal and on-the-ball precision, made him crucial in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s fantastic season. His team finished sixth and qualified for the Europea League. Ter Stegen featured in 34 league games, conceded 43 goals and made 138 saves.

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Everything is ready for the next edition of the UEFA Champions League

The 2014/15 Champions League is getting closer. A total of 32 teams will feature in the tournament, 22 of which are already qualified for the group stage. FC Barcelona are one of the 22 teams that are already qualified for the group stage. 

The competition will start on the 16th or 17th of September. 

The first games of the competition will be the qualifying rounds (1/2 and 8/9 of July), when the first six teams of the first round will battle it out for a spot in the next stage of the qualifiers. Among these six teams are FC Santa Coloma, from Andorra. 

The second round of qualifiers will be made up for 31 teams, among them the European champions Celtic Glasgow and Steaua Bucharest. The draw for the first and second round of qualifiers took place last Monday in Nyon, Switzerland. Of the 55 teams that will feature in the qualifiers, only 10 will advance to the group stage.

The group stage will kick off in September and will end on the 9th and 10th of December. The Champions League will return in February (17-18 and 24-25) and March (10-11 and 17-18) with the Round of 16. 

The quarter-finals will be played on the 14th and 15th and the 21st and 22nd of April, while the semi-finals will be played on the 5th and 6th and 12th and 13th of May. 

The final is scheduled for the 6th of June 2015, at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

UNICEF will continue its collaboration with FC Barcelona

The President Josep Maria Bartomeu recently  met with the Director of Private Funding and Partnerships Division of UNICEF, Gérard Bocquenet to discuss the relationship and to explore additional means of collaboration between the two entities.

The institutional meeting was also attended by the Director and Vice-President of the Foundation, Ramon Pont, the General Director, Josep Cortada, the Executive Director of UNICEF Spain, Javier Martos, and Catalunya Committee Coordinator,  Guiomar Todó.

During the meeting, Bartormeu and Bocquenet reaffirmed the desire of both institutions to continue working together in the future in order to improve the lives of underserved children. The FC Barcelona president inquired about the UNICEF projects developed in China, Ghana, Brazil and South Africa that are in part funded by the Club’s annual donation of 1.5 million euros.

Bocquenet invited  Bartomeu to visit some of the projects that are made possible thanks to the collaboration between FC Barcelona and UNICEF.

FC Barcelona will face off Club León on 18th August

The Joan Gamper Trophy match will be played on Monday, August 18th against Club León de Guanajuato (Mexico), the side where the former FCB man Rafa Márquez has played since 2012. 

This is the first time that the Mexican Closing 2014 and Opening 2013 champions have contested FC Barcelona’s annual trophy.

In 2014, Club León won the Mexican Closing Championship by beating Cruz Azul in the quarter finals, Toluca in the semi-finals and Pachuca in the final. They also won the 2013 Opening Championship by beating Club América 5-1 in the final, having beaten Morelia and Santos Laguna in the previous playoff rounds.

Club León, from the state of Guanajuato, was founded in 1944 and have won 7 leagues and 5 cups. They are currently managed by the Uruguayan Gustavo Matosas, and the squad includes Mauro Boselli, who in 2009 scored against Barça in the Clubs World Cup Final when playing for Estudiantes of Argentina.

This is the third preseason match to have been announced so far, after it was previously revealed that Barça will play against Nice (August 2nd) and HJK Helsinki (August 9th).

FC Barcelona vice-president and spokesman, Manel Arroyo, also announced that the Joan Gamper Trophy will double as a testimonial for the captains Carles Puyol and Víctor Valdés. 

Two of the biggest stars of the greatest Barça team ever, who both left the club at the end of the last season, will be given thoroughly deserved recognition. 

Messi and Mascherano made their debut in the World Cup

Ten of Barça’s 12 players at the World Cup have made their debuts and Messi and Mascherano began their tournament yesterday, Sunday, when Argentina faced off Bosnia in Rio.

Neymar has made a great start against Croatia and Alexis also scored in Chile’s 3-1 win over Australia, but it was a rather grimmer start for Barça’s five Spanish players and Alex Song, whose team lost against Mexico.

There were plenty of long faces as Spain began preparations for Wednesday’s game against Chile and Jordi Alba admitted to the media: “Nobody expected them to score five. We were the better team in the first half, but nothing went right after the break. We will have to give all for a win against Chile.”

Brazil’s next game will be tomorrow, Tuesday, against Mexico and the squad is prepared for that match with a practice game.  

Bartomeu, FC Barcelona’s President, is positive about the future of the Club

Bartomeu explained that he wants to complete the term of president until the end of the mandate because that would bring stability to the Club. 

The president of FC Barcelona indicated that the way in which the Club is managed will be guided by effort, transparency and honesty. 

The president went on to say that the season hasn’t been a good one but despite the disappointing season, the president is optimistic about the future: “We are at a decisive moment in which we can build a new Barça, a team that I assure you will once again excite fans, a team that will make all our followers proud.” The president recognized that Luis Enrique “is clearly capable of undertaking this project, and will lead us to success and bring the type of football that we all want to see.”

The economic viability of the Club is crucial for the sporting changes that the Board hopes to put in place and, according to Bartomeu, will allow the Club to face a restructuring of the roster that guarantees athletic excellence. 

He concluded: “We will once again surpass 500 million euros in revenue. We expect to stay within budget and we will close out the fiscal year with approximately 30 million euros in profit after taxes. Our Club is economically strong.”

The World Cup squad is mainly made up for Barça players

On Thursday, the 2014 World Cup will kick-off. As in previous editions, Barça will be heavily represented, as 13 of the 25 Barça 2013/14 first team squad will take part. 

They are: Pique, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc, and Pedro (with Spain), Alves and Neymar (Brazil), Messi and Mascherano (Argentina), Alexis (Chile) and Song (Cameroun).

In Brazil, Xavi Hernandez will beat a new record by becoming the first Barça player to take part in four World Cups. He’s one of the few that knows what it is to win it. Despite their young ages, Lionel Messi and Cesc will be there for the third time, just like Mascherano and Iniesta. However, Neymar Jr. and Jordi Alba will be taking part for the first time.

The number of 13 players from the same club taking part in a World Cup is very unusual internationally, and this number could have been higher if not for the injuries to Victor Valdes and Carles Puyol, which made them unavailable.

Javier Mascherano will extend his contract with Barça until 2018

FC Barcelona has agreed a deal with Mascherano to extend his contract for another four years, until 2018. Moreover, the deal includes an option for a further extension to 2019.

FC Barcelona is pleased to announce that the agreement has been reached with Javier Mascherano to improve and extend his contract for another four seasons, until 30 June 2018, plus an option on a further season. The buy-out clause is 100 million euros.

Javier Mascherano has enjoyed a fruitful spell with Barça, winning the Champions League (2011), two Spanish leagues (2011 and 2013), the Spanish Cup (2012), the European Super Cup (2011), two Spanish Super Cups (2012 and 2014) and the World Club Cup (2011).

The Argentine international player has moved back into central defence with FC Barcelona and has made 184 appearances for FC Barcelona.  He signed for Barça from Liverpool in the summer of 2010.  Last season, he made 44 appearances as a vital part of the defensive set-up.

Mascherano is one of the 13 Barça players taking part in the Brazil World Cup which kicks off next Thursday.  He’ll spend his birthday with his team-mates in the Argentine squad.