Catalunya vs Argentina

Camp Nou: Catalunya vs Argentina. December 22. 8.30 pm

Despite predictions of heavy rain and drizzle all day, we decide to go. Our friend Tito begs off, but we are determined – and rewarded. The skies clear, the night is crisp but not cold. After finding our way through the intricacies of the mobbed ticket window in either Catalan or Spanish (I’m still not sure which), we emerge high above Camp Nou at the center line just below the press box. Fantastic seats!

The place is hopping before kick off. An elaborate trampoline routine is coming to an end, and the oboe player for a Catalan supergroup is dancing his way out in a single spotlight from the far corner to the center circle where the rest are waiting. Very dramatic.

But that’s nothing to the welcome for the Catalan players. Fireworks and light shows greet every player – seemed very like the NBA except outdoors in a 100,000 seat stadium. Every player is greeted with a roar, especially home town heroes from Barca like Xavi, Bojan and of course Puyol. The biggest cheer though is for Johann Cruyff, the Catalan coach, who still enjoys demi-god (actually not so demi) in Barcelona almost 20 years after coaching here.

Messi won’t play, but plenty of top Argentine talent is on display led by Higuian from Real Madrid.

The game takes time to warm up, but gradually Xavi, Bousquets, and Picque (playing defensive mid – not very well it must be said) take control. Bojan is looking lively, and it’s his long cross field ball to the far side that allows the left winger to provide Luis Garcia from Espanyol with the first goal, slid in from behind the Argentine defense which is looking pretty disorganized. Their goalie ain’t so hot either.

A second goal comes just before half time, but Argentina strike back almost immediately as the Catalan defense is exposed once again as short of speed. Puyol is a great player, but Higuain can run rings around him for pace. If the Argentine finishing had been any good they would have won this game by a cricket score.

Ten minutes into the second half, Bojan scores a cracking goal, dribbling in from the left wing near midfield, accelerating through a gap, then cutting inside the fullback and burying it inside the near post. He showed why Barca persist with him even though he seems far too small to lead the line, and hasn’t really taken his many opportunities. The emergence of Pedro has added pressure as well. Beyond his goal, Bojan was very lively, very determined – maybe it was his first international (I don’t think he’s played for Serbia yet).

The crowd is totally into it now. A sea of Catalan flags around the stadium, roaring encouragement. Call and response echoes across stadium. There is a tremendous sense of national pride and cohesion. This is after all the Catalan national team playing in Camp Nou – a profound statement in a country where one of the first victims of Franco was the President of FC Barcelona, shot in 1936, and where the Catalan language was banned for 40 years.

On the other hand, Cruyff himself – a massive Catalan nationalist – was appealing on the day of the game for fans to show up, with only 30,000 tickets sold. And at best, the stadium was only half full at game time.

Two goals up, Cruyff starts subbing. Xavi goes first, then Bojan – and the wheels start to come off. Higuain scores a smashing goal, a volley from the edge of the box: 3-2. Then the ref gives a very dubious penalty to relieve the pressure, calmly slotted home.

Now many of the stars are gone – Luis Garcia and Puyols are off. And Argentina are just driving through the defense. They must have missed half a dozen good chances in the final 10 minutes.

Hard to read this result. Argentina looked very fast and dangerous up front, extremely quick transitions on the counter. But their midfield didn’t look too hot and their defense wasn’t even ordinary. Still they were missing a lot of what will presumably be first team players. I’d be a bit concerned though – Catalunya are not exactly a world power.

Overall, a fabulous night – incredible stadium, unbelievable atmosphere. Meant more to me as I’ve just finished reading Burns’ excellent history of the club, “Barca.” Once everyone had left, we could see the mural across one entire side of the seating – “Mes que un club” – the Barca slogan “more than a club” in Catalan. It certainly felt like that last night.