Thank you F.C. Barcelona 2010/2011

Dear my avid blog readers,

It was such a fun to watch Barca played last night against Man U. It brings back memories of how football should be - fun, an art, respect, flair and a true form of sport.

The Barca style of play has never been changed since the first time I saw them play during the 90’s, under the guidance of Johan Cryuff. It is not the passing, but the way they held the ball for such a long time. Barca do not only have tactics, but they have a philosophy of how football should be played and enjoyed. The way Barca played brings back memories of children playing football in kampung. They just play solely for the sheer of fun, for the sake of loving the game. The modern game of football however, gave us a different idea of professional football. It is not anymore about the skills, the techniques, but more of power, stamina, and strength. This philosophy of football really kills this sport.

But this Barcelona team of 2011 brings back the real football that we used to know during our childhood. They just want to play football. I still remember playing football with my colleagues in kampung. We just run with our flair, with a bit of twist here and there. We seldom play with the traditionally british long ball style, instead we just play a direct football. We are proud to show off our skills.

Barcelona is not good of manipulating the media or generating billions of dollar through advertising. They only know how to play football. If you’ll ever see Barca play, you’ll never see them engage in any form of time wasting tactics, even if they are leading by a margin of a goal. They truly appreciate football. They respect football. They respect the fans, they respect the sport. They respect opponents, treats every players equally, regardless of races, religion, or skin color. Just see how they appreciated Eric Abidal, their French left back who are just a few month prior to the match was facing life-threatening heart tumor. Abidal, a black-colored French international was distinguished to hail the “Big Ear” during Barca’s winning night against MU in the UCL’s final match, instead of their captain, a white-colored Carles Puyol. That’s the true value of sports to me.

Pep Guardiola, during Barca’s UCL final pre-match media conference said that he’s not good at landing a psychological wars against Man U. He’s simply very naïve in doing that. Barca, is only good at playing football. That’s what they intended to do, just playing football.

Thank you F.C Barcelona.