FCBARCELONA.CAT

03.08.2009 19:18

First training session for Ibrahimovic

David Saura (enviat especial)

Ibrahimovic had his first training session as a Barca player today. He was applauded onto the training pitch by the rest of the squad and joined in with most of the activities, showing, not surprisingly, particular effectiveness in shooting practice.

Although he signed for the club last Monday, 27th July, Ibrahimovic needed a minor operation on his broken hand the day after and only had the plaster removed as the team were set to leave LA. So far on the US Tour, Barca’s big name signing has had to watch the rest of the squad from the sidelines, but today he was finally able to work out with the rest of his new team mates.

University of Washington training ground

Ibrahimovic came out on to the training pitch at the University of Washington in Seattle and after some light ball work with Maxwell, Henrique, Alves and Keita, he was welcomed into the session proper by the rest of the squad in the middle of the pitch.

Still in need of protection

There’s still a need to protect Ibrahimovic’s hand and so when the rest of the squad did some more contact work, the Swedish striker worked out on his own under the supervision of Juanjo Brau. With the stitches still in his hand from the operation, it’s important that Ibrahimovic avoids getting sweat or dirt in the wound.

Lethal in front of goal

Back with the rest of the squad, Guardiola split up the defenders and midfielders for a practice game, whilst Ibrahimovic joined the rest of the attackers in shooting practice, where he showed how lethal he can be in front of goal, bagging 9 of his 10 shooting efforts with a variety of styles from lobs to beating Valdes one-on-one.