Malaria No More

6 August 2008

New York (Chinatown Newswire) — FC Barcelona, the self-proclaimed “most storied soccer club in history,” visited Manhattan’s West Side yesterday as part of their pre-season tour of the United States.

While the language used in the press release might have been a bit on the pompous side, the event was anything but with proceeds benefiting the Malaria No More Foundation.

Just a day before their highly anticipated match against local side New York Red Bull at Giants Stadium, Barca brought out their full squad which included Mexican national team captain, Rafael Márquez, 2008 UEFA Euro 2008 MVP, Xavi Hernandez, Cameroon international Samuel Eto’o and French superstar Thierry Henry.

Coach Stochl and the CSC’s Spanish ambassador Rafa “The Rafweiler” Herrin-Ferri were present to check out the action and Stochl made the following snaps available exclusively to the Newswire.

FC Barcelona presented a full squad for a good cause on Manhattan’s West Side.

Striker Samuel Eto’o displayed his trademark speed in several of the afternoon’s matches.

Aliaksandr Hleb and Eidur Gudjohnson had to endure a bit of heckling thanks to their previous affiliations with Arsenal and Chelsea, respectively.

Rafa Márquez was cheered on every time he touched the ball thanks to the large turnout of Mexican fans.

Defender Gerard Piqué displayed some impressive skill on the ball despite being watched closely by Hleb, Márquez and teenage sensation Bojan Krkic.