Barca Buzz: An Eventful Training Session

The team took up training again yesterday after returning from their Copa Del Rey victory, and though some of the boys arrived late, the session was completed with all the uninjured players present, save for Gerard Pique who left to undergo special recuperation after just a few minutes.

Nothing has been reported about his having any form of injury, so it's probably just a minor glitch from the last match. Lord knows we can't afford to lose anymore defenders... particularly if said defenders are yummy Geri.

Now, we all know how strict Pep is when it comes to team discipline and punctuality; several of the boys were in a tight spot with him yesterday when they showed up minutes late to training. Three-time culprit Samuel Eto'o was fined another five hundred euros, as were Lionel Messi, Dani Alves, Xavi Hernandez, Yaya Toure and Eidur Gudjohnsen.

They arrived one by one after training had already kicked off, and Pep greeted them each in turn with a stern face and pointing at his watch. Well, we get the boys would be exhausted after their hell of a celebration after the Copa; but looks like Pep's not tolerating slacking off from anyone.
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Training commenced as usual after that, before UEFA officials showed up unexpectedly and called ten of the players for drug tests: Alves, Iniesta, Puyol, Eto'o, Henry, Milito, Sylvinho, Pinto, Sergio Busquets and Keita. What, do the UEFA not believe that a team could naturally be so amazing? Well, they found nothing on our boys, so HA!

Once training was over, Messi, Henry and Puyol were involved in some filming for the FIFA solidarity campaign "Football for Health". They recorded a message where Messi spoke of the importance of a balanced diet, Henry called for respect for the female gender and Puyol talked about personal hygiene.

These are three of eleven main values on which the campain focuses: Playing football, respect for women and girls, protection against AIDS, avoiding use of drugs and alcohol, avoiding malaria, personal hygiene, drinking clean water, keeping a balanced diet, using vaccines, medical prescriptions, and fair-play.

Other stars involved in the campaign are Drogba, Essien, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kolo Touré, Kaka, Buffon, Fabio Capello and Brazilian female footballer Marta.