FCBARCELONA.CAT

14.12.2009 12:13

Work begins in Abu Dhabi

Roger Bogunyà / Vanessa Forns

The Barça players had their first training session in Abu Dhabi on Monday. However, Leo Messi stayed behind in the hotel to continue his personal recovery programme.

Despite a gruelling eight-hour flight the day before, the players reported for training on Monday at 1 pm local time. It was a short session of just under an hour designed to help the players adjust to the Gulf climate. The temperature here is about 25ºC so the players had to pay especial attention to drinking enough water during training.

A change of venue

Due to pitch conditions, the training session was switched at the last moment from the Army Stadium to the Officers Club. While his team-mates went through their paces, Leo Messi remained in the hotel to work on his personalized recovery programme

Excitement locally

The presence of FC Barcelona in Abu Dhabi has created a lot of excitement locally and some 100 journalists and organizers watched the session, which was open to the public.

The match ball

The training session followed the usual pattern with the players who took part in the match against Espanyol being subjected to a lighter programme. The players also got the chance to try out the ball that will be used in the tournament and also the one that will be used in the World Cup in South Africa, known as Jabulani.