So we’ve seen 4 games live now, and 4 ties.

Champions League, Europa League, La Liga and La Liga 2nd Division.  All ties.  Two of them were by way of goals in stoppage time, which was pretty cool.  We have seen several games on tv and our hotel has BarcaTV, which plays pretty much non-stop Barcelona soccer news and highlights.  They carry a lot of the youth team stuff, so we’ve seen some of the highlights from U10, U11, etc teams.  One thing we noticed is the mannerisms of the players – they look and act like the players from the senior team, and know what’s expected of them and what to do in situations.  For soccer to continue to grow in the US, our young players need a culture like this.

Yesterday we walked a lot to see the city and get some Christmas shopping done.  My friend Chris and I stopped to watch some kids playing soccer in the little plaza area between some apartments.  It was a lot like any pickup games we see anywhere:  a couple really good players, one guy who kicked the ball as hard as he could every time it came near him, and one kid who wasn’t really playing but just kinda there walking around in the field.

Today we are going to watch a couple of training sessions, and  possibly a Barca women’s team match.  Hasta luego…