BARCELONA, Spain _ If clothes make the man, then the FC Barcelona training uniform makes a group of teens from New Jersey feel like they own the city.
Decked out in the alternate blue shirt, orange shirts and blue socks, the Princeton gang drew more than a few gazes from passersby, including a tour bus that -- apparently thinking they were one of Barcelona's youth teams -- started snapping pictures and video as they rode by. Not missing a chance to bask in some attention, the Jerseyans waved back like they were Ronaldinho themselves.
Monday's afternoon session with Ruben Della and Jordi Perez stressed "passing with a purpose" -- emphasizing tactical awareness instead of only technical skill.
(Paul Ehrenworth leads his teammates out of the tunnel)
The drills surprisingly started with the children's game of "keepaway" -- 4-v-4 competitions of throwing the ball among each other. Jordi explained the purpose was merely a warmup exercise, but one that emphasizes positioning instead of foot skills.
(Dan Greb gets the ball past sis)
The session, naturally, also included more conventional passing drills, from four-square exercises to 2-on-1 tests, and was capped by a 9-v-9 scrimmage between the touchlines, won by the "sleeves" over the "skins" (rolled-up sleeves) 5-3. Paul Oliu joined in and scored three, probably because he holds everybody's passport.
(Dave Mangone concentrates on passing with the outside of the foot)
(Getting the cross in)
Besides the scrutiny of the FC Barcelona staff, Jorge has been encouraging a little intra-squad competition, including juggling. Offering a choice between a kit of AC Milan and Club World champion Sao Paulo FC to the first camper to keep a ball aloft for 1,000 touches, the contest quickly whittled down to Kyle Roach and Collin Hayes.
After both claimed -- with witnesses albeit not one of the adult arbiters present -- that they had surpassed a thousand, Jorge escorted the pair to a small plaza near the Balmoral hotel base in Barcelona Monday night to settle the issue. Colin Hayes prevailed, achieving 1,078 on his first try, while Kyle Roach managed only 816.
There's six days left. Plenty of competition remains.
(Jack Willoughby and Paul Ehrenworth squeeze Matt Macey)
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