On this week’s RoundUp: Microsoft founder Gill Gates talks about FC Barcelona’s commitment to eradicating polio, President Rosell sits down with ESPN, and BFB gives an interesting overview of Barça’s U18 NextGen Series match against Tottenham Hotspur…
• The Gates Notes. Bill Gates. Day 1 at the UN: Good Friends from Around the World
“I spent some time with Sandro Rosell, the President of FC Barcelona and the FC Barcelona Foundation. They have been tremendous partners in using their club and its worldwide fan base to raise awareness of polio with their “More than a Goal” campaign. We recorded a short video together talking about the foundation’s partnership with them to work toward saving children’s lives around the world.”
• Yahoo! Deportes / EuroSport. Christian Pulina. Guardiola y el Barça, han hecho malos a todos los demás
“El mensaje en principio iba a ser el de que el nivel del fútbol europeo es bajísimo, pero luego me di cuenta de que no estaba bien dicho, y que lo correcto es decir que el Barça ha hecho que los demás parezcan muy malos, porque cuando el Barça era horroroso en la época de Gaspart, yo no recuerdo que estos equipos que ahora me parecen malos, me parecieran mejores de lo que son ahora, simplemente eran menos malos que nosotros, que es diferente.”
• ESPN. Roger Bennett. How video game is changing face of soccer.
“We have more research on what motivates people to watch football than anyone in the world,” said Bilbey. The narrative he has uncovered validates the story that played out in Scarborough’s Alabama fraternity house. “We analyzed passive interactions with soccer and compared them to interactive experiences with the sport,” he said, “and while there can be no substitute to seeing Barcelona at the Nou Camp, the American audience enjoys interacting with our game more than watching soccer passively on television.”
• BarcelonaFootballBlog. Linda. Barça v Spurs in the NextGen Series: a few thoughts on youth development
“La Masia’s reputation has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years because it is credited for the success of the first team. Think about it again: a successful first team built around La Masia graduates. That would have sounded like a fairytale to many fans even just 6 years ago. In Barça’s 04-06 dream team, the midfield general and star player were both foreign signings. The ‘brand’ of the La Masia-educated midfielder, in particular, didn’t have half the strength it has today.”
• TXIKOLOGÍA CULÉ. El Barça no tiró de épica, se aferro a su estilo
“Anoche en el Pizjuán pudimos disfrutar de un tremendo partidazo entre dos grandes equipos de fútbol. Como dijo Michel en rueda de prensa, hubo tanto fútbol en el encuentro que ni la polémica arbitral, ni los minutos en los que se consiguieron los goles deben ocultar lo mucho y bien que jugaron ambos equipos. Cada uno con su estilo, por supuesto, pero Sevilla y Barça, Barça y Sevilla, sacaron todas sus armas y las utilizaron con talento y fe.”