Santos FC vs FC Barcelona: Barça becomes legendary after winning the FIFA Club World Cup. The Catalans were three up at half time after goals from Messi, Xavi and Cesc, with the Argentinean rounding the game off with a fourth after the break.
FC Barcelona's Manager, Josep Guardiola, stressed the pride that the team have in maintaining such a good level over three years and said that now, in the Club World Cup, Barça have to deserve to be in the Final against Santos, by playing well and winning. Guardiola admits that the Club World Cup is the title that he’s most excited to play for. "Getting here is very complicated, really, really difficult," he stressed. Guardiola was very direct and clear with his answer to the question about the Spanish sports newspaper Marca's leading cover story claiming Villa is for sale: "Marca is lying".
12 of the 23 players that FC Barcelona have taken to Japan have never appeared in the competition before. However, Valdés, Puyol, Iniesta and Xavi are going for the third time. Before this Tuesday’s training session in Yokohama, Barça players and technical staff met with children from Fukushima, in solidarity with Japan and its nuclear accident.
Given the flood of questions asking about a possible rest for the Argentinian star, Pep Guardiol, FC Barcelona’s Manager, insisted that he is in perfect condition to play the full Spanish League game against Zaragoza on Saturday.
China, Japan, Philippines and Malaysia are some of the countries that will host the exhibition ‘The Turn of the Century in Spanish Contemporary Art’, formed by works from the Barcelona Contemporary Art Museum (MACBA) and the foundation of the Catalan savings bank ‘La Caixa’. The collection of both entities consists of 5.500 artworks and is considered one of the most important compilations in Southern Europe. The exhibition touring in Asia will include artworks from Spanish sculptors and painters like Antoni Tàpies, Eduardo Chillida or Miquel Barceló, from the last 50 years.
The Japanese writer was awarded the 23rd Premi Internacional Catalunya in Barcelona. Haruki Murakami announced during the ceremony he will give the prize money to the Tsunami and Fukushima victims, after delivering an anti nuclear power speech. In a later interview with CNA, Murakami explained he will take many ideas with him from his Barcelona trip. He will store these “into one of the drawers” of his mind and later will use them in upcoming books, as he always does.
The organisers stated that Barcelona’s Japanese twin festival of electronic and advanced music will take place despite the tsunami and the nuclear crisis. In addition, Barcelona’s Sonar Festival and its Galicia twin will give 25% of the money made at the box office to Japan’s Red Cross.
The Japanese writer wins the 23rd edition of Catalonia’s top award. Other winners have included Jimmy Carter, Aung San Suu Kyi, Claude Lévi-Strauss and Harold Bloom, among others.
At the end of January, the Japanese motorbike company announced its decision and this week it issued its mass layoff plan. Yamaha will concentrate all its European production in its French factory. The Catalan factory was making profit and trade unions have stressed that the decision is only based on the company’s strategy. Yamaha will keep its commercial offices in Catalonia.