Football Update: The Gamper Trophy- Match Preview, Barcelona vs. AC Milan
The “Gamper Trophy” this year is going to mark the return of the legendary Brazilian player, Ronaldinho. The Brazilian striker has helped the Catalan giants win a lot of matches during his peak time in the club. The current AC Milan “key man” has been out of form lately but he is ready to play against Barcelona, as AC Milan are going to visit the Nou Camp to play against the Spanish La Liga Champions, Barcelona.
Ronaldinho coming to Barcelona was simply a shock to many. With an agreement reached with the English club Manchester United, everyone expected him to play with the English club; but Barcelona was the side which made a deal over night and hijacked the amazing move and Rolandinho came to the Spanish club and served them with his “out of the world” moments. Ronaldinho was also expected to make a move to Real Madrid but there was a rumour that the owners told the club’s manager that the player was “too ugly” to play for Real Madrid and later when Ronaldinho joined Real Madrid’s rival club Barcelona, he showed the world how beautiful he was in terms of playing football. With an amazing performance that led to a 3-0 win for Barcelona at Santiago Bernabeu, the home of Real Madrid; it was Real Madrid’s home crowd that gave the Brazilian player a standing ovation.
The Joan Gamper Trophy is actually a “friendly” match hosted by Barcelona. It is a preseason trophy and it takes place in the month of August. The current champions are Manchester City. There was a time when there were four teams who used to play two semi finals and then the two winners used to play a final match. However, since 1997, the idea changed and only one opponent was selected for Barcelona and the teams competing in this competition are usually those in which a former Barcelona player is playing, so he can come back to the Nou Camp to give a friendly performance against his former club.
This time it is the Brazilian player Ronaldinho who is going to come back to the Nou Camp after he left for AC Milan. Ronaldinho has recently been out of form and many have even quoted him as “extra fat” because he has lost his fitness. He was told by his fitness coach to fix his “size” and he is currently working on that. Ronaldinho was not even selected for the Brazilian squad as Dunga had some personal issues with the player; even though he performed “amazingly” well against Manchester United and Real Madrid during the Champions League. Everyone saw a glimpse of the old Ronaldinho and the Milan fans thought that the Brazilian was back. It was definitely Ronaldinho’s last chance to play in the Brazilian team during the FIFA World Cup, but that chance was taken away from him as the Brazilians lost the quarter final match against Netherlands and they had to pack their bags too early.
In recent news, Ronaldinho sent a message to the Barcelona’s former president Sandro Rossell, who actually signed the player. In the letter, he wrote clearly how proud he was to be a former Barcelona man and how he cherished the moments with the Spanish Club. He said it would be amazing to be back and he gave thumbs up to the “Barcelona family.” He even said that he doesn’t like to talk in public much, therefore he is writing a letter to tell the club how much he cares about them and respects them still.
Barcelona have recently won the Spanish La Liga while AC Milan suffered a 3rd place in the Italian League. Barcelona are in great shape especially after their new signing David Villa, however AC Milan are out of new players and are playing a pretty old squad; mostly over 30 years of age. Today’s match is definitely going to be fun to watch. They may call it friendly, but players like Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi are always on the field to give their best and they are definitely going to give their best.
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