FCBARCELONA.CAT

11.01.2010 11:59

Messi-Bojan: a lethal connection

Jesús Carrillo

The connection worked on Sunday in Tenerife. Bojan and Messi played together again, and Messi scored a hat trick while Bojan supplied three assists.

The first chapter of Bojan and Messi’s friendship was written in 2004. The Barça TV show ‘Promeses’ brought together the two players produced at the Camp Nou: Messi, born in Rosario (Argentina) in 1987, and Bojan Krkic, born in Linyola in 1990.

Museum and fussball

They didn’t know each other. Bojan was playing for the Infantil A side coached by Sergio Lobera, and Messi was playing for Barça B under Pere Gratacós. The Argentinian, who is three years older than the highest goalscorer in Barça youth history, spoke about football, the club, their lives and their future aspirations.

They admired the European Cup trophy won at Wembley in awe. Both dreamed of winning it themselves one day. One of the highlights of the show came when the duo played bar football together, both displaying their intense desire to win.

Close to the Mini

The report then moved on to the pitches by the Miniestadi. The players chatted, with Bojan showing interest in Messi’s Argentinian background, and also curious to know what it was like to play for five different categories of team in the same season. Messi had represented Juvenil A and B, Barça C, Barça B and even appeared in a friendly in Oporto under Frank Rijkaard. Messi was amazed at the ease with which Bojan was able to score goals.

Together from 2007/08

In the 2007/08 season, the players finally shared the same dressing room. Not that that was in the best of FC Barcelona seasons. But they gradually started to gel, step by step, game by game, training session by training session. Messi has gone on to become the best player in the world, while Bojan is improving all the time. The duo have grown up together, and as the club’s television channel shows, that all started in April 2004.