Andrés Iniesta Lujan ( CMF ) Biografy

Andrés Iniesta joined Barca as a twelve-year-old in 1996 after scouts had spotted him at the Brunette Tournament playing for Albacete.
From the start he progressed rapidly through the club's various youth teams and was promoted to the Barca B team for the 2000-01 season, where he almost immediately became the team's main playmaker under coach Josep Maria Gonzalvo.
Andrés' dream of making the first team finally came true in October 2002 when he was picked to play in the Champions League game against Bruges in Belgium. Van Gaal's Barca won that evening and Andrés made an excellent impression.
Now an recognised squad member, Iniesta has established a place for himself through hard work allied to his undoubted natural skills. In the shadow of some of the team's bigger names, Andres became a key piece of the League winning 2004-5 team, winding up as Rijkaard's most used player, figuring in 35 of the 38 league games. Iniesta also played 8 Champions League matches, scoring twice.

But he really established himself as a first team player in the 2005-06 season. Playing in central midfield in place of Xavi, who was sidelined for a long time with injury, Iniesta became one of the key players in the Barça side that won the League and the Champions League. He played in 33 League fixtures and 11 in the Champions League.

In the 2008/09 season, Iniesta had an even better season than ever. Playing in a central or wide role he delighted the whole world with his amazing dribbling skills. He grew into one of the essential components of the Barça engine, and took the team to the Champions League final with an injury time goal at Stamford Bridge.

Injury affected his contribution in the 2009-10 season when he was already one of the leading players in the team. He played 29 matches in the league, 9 in the Champions League and 3 in the Cup.

Iniesta continued to develop in the 2006-07 season and was one of the players most used by Frank Rijkaard in that campaign. He played in 37 out of 38 League games scoring 6 goals, his best return to date. In the 2007-08 season, and by now in the number 8 shirt, the midfielder continued to be an ever present in the side until the last few games when he picked up a knee injury.

Plus Andrés Iniesta is one of the key players in the Spanish national side, playing in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup and Euro 2008, when he was one of the players most used by Luis Aragonés as Spain lifted the trophy.

PROFILE

Intuitive, vertical, fast and intelligent, Andrés Iniesta is a man of many virtues. The midfielder started out in defence for Barça B and before that the club’s youth teams. But as he gained in first team experience, he was also moved into a more attacking role. He is now a full-on striker, and is also able to play as a midfielder or on either of the flanks of the Barça forward line.

Iniesta is not only versatile, but also a true professional, being talented yet modest. Especially talented. The player from Fuentealbilla has set standards for other attacking midfielders to follow. Practical and intelligent, he reads the game to perfection and is a constant threat to opposing defences.

Francesc 'Cesc' Fabregas Soler ( CMF ) Biografy

Francesc 'Cesc' Fabregas Soler was born on the 4th of May, 1987, in Arenys de Mar, Catalonia, Spain.

Cesc's football career started brightly while with Barcelona's B team. He gained international caps with Spain at the FIFA U17 World Championship, where he was named best player and top goalscorer, even though his side had finished second to Brazil.

At the age of just 16 years, he left his homeland and moved to England with Arsenal, in a £2.25m transfer.

Aged just 16 years and 177 days, the midfielder became Arsenal's youngest first-team player ever, when he made his debut on October 23rd, 2003, in a League Cup match at home, which the Gunners won on penalties after drawing 1-1.

On his next appearance, he broke another record, he scored in Arsenal's 5-1 League Cup win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, which made him the youngest ever Arsenal goalscorer.

On August 15th he signed a contract that ties him to FC Barcelona for the next five seasons. His buyout clause is 200 million Euros.

Cesc Fabregas made his Spanish International debut aged 18, and with the national side won the European Championships in 2008 and the World Cup in 2010. He gave the pass for Iniesta's goal in the Final to win the World Cup for Spain.

PROFILE

Cesc Fabregas can play in all midfield positions. He can act as defensive center mid, left or right midfield pivot, or even just behind the striker. He stands out for his great ability to get into the box, and his goal assists. With him on the pitch, his teammates play better.

HONOURS

FC Barcelona
2011/12 European Supercup
2011/12 Spanish Super Cup

Arsenal
2005 FA Cup
2004 Community Shield

Spanish national team
2010 World
2008 European Championship

Xavier Hernandez Creus ( CMF ) Biografy

Xavier Hernández i Creus, commonly known as Xavi (Catalan pronunciation) (born 25 January 1980 in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia) is a Spanish football player who plays as a midfielder for FC Barcelona.
Widely considered among the finest play-makers in the world, Xavi was named the official Man of the match of the 2009 Champions League Final as he helped Barcelona defeat Manchester United to win their third Champions League title. He was named Player of the Tournament by UEFA at UEFA Euro 2008. In all he has been capped 99 times for the Spanish national team, with whom he won the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Xavi Hernandez is a Spanish football player who currently plays for Barcelona. He's the third captain of Barcelona and Spain and is the playmaker of both teams. Xavi is known for his technical and passing skills but also for his defensive abilities. He often appears on score-sheet and is an excellent set-piece taker.

Career
Xavi has spent all of his footballing life at the Camp Nou having joined Barça when he was only at the tender age of 11 years. He quickly made his way through the youth and reserve teams and was a key member of Jordi Gonzalvo's FC Barcelona B team that won promotion to the Segunda División.

His exceptional growth throughout the teams earned him a full debut on August 11, 1998. He quickly went on to become a key member of Louis van Gaal's title winning first team.

He won his first Spanish cap on November 15, 2000 against Holland and has since been a regular fixture in the Spanish squad. Xavi has endeared many fans with his long-range passing ability and deft touches to open opposition teams up. These, coupled with his steady composure, qualify him as one of the classiest midfielders in Europe.

His trip to the World Cup was in doubt due to a knee ligament injury, but Xavi recovered well in time and was named as part of Luis Aragones' squad. His importance to the team was summed by Aragones when he said "People say it is a gamble to take Xavi with us, but I say it would be a crazy gamble to leave him at home."

Throughout the tournament Xavi showed his importance to Spain, consistently setting up his teammates with his well placed passes. Xavi was named Man of the Match in Spain's first match against Ukraine and played in all of Spain's other three matches, before they were knocked out in the second round.

Xavi is contracted to Barca until 2010, which carries a buyout clause of £100 million.

Sergio Busquets Burgos ( DMF ) Biografy

Born in Sabadell, he joined the Barça youth system in the summer of 2005 from Jabac.In the 2006-07 season, Sergi Busquets continued with Juvenil A and was one of the core players in the side coached by Àlex Garcia. In his third year at the level, and despite still being a midfielder, Sergio scored 7 goals in 26 games.
The following season, Busquets moved up to Barça B under Pep Guardiola. It was not until the twelfth match that Sergio started a game, but he immediately impressed, and was picked 23 more times that season. He scored twice and made a major contribution to the promotion to Division 2B.

He started the Cup final and the Champions League final, thus ending an incredible twelve months in which he progressed from the third division to being a European champion. In the 2009-10 season, he established his name as one of the most talented central midfielders on the international scene. Despite stiff competition from Touré Yaya, he played in 33 matches in the league, 10 in the Champions League and 4 in the Cup.

Vicente del Bosque put his faith in him and made Busquets his first choice central midfielder in the Spanish team that won the 2010 World Cup. Sergi Busquets is the son of Carles Busquets, who played in goal for FC Barcelona in the 1990s.

Sergio Busquets is a very complete midfielder renowned for his intelligence on the field. Born in Sabadell, he positions himself well and is a good reader of the game. Busquets adds security to the team because he rarely gives the ball away and is also solid in his defensive duties

Camp Nou Stadium

Camp Nou

The need for a new stadium

From 1948, people were more and more keen on the idea of building a completely new ground, but this was not an easy thing to do, and it was necessary to convince the local authorities that a new stadium would be able to fit in with the plans at the time to develop the upper area of the Diagonal.

What followed was a turbulent period, as the Camp Nou commission decided on February 9, 1951 to change the location of the future stadium to the area at the top of the Diagonal, and this led to a series of sterile negotiations with the Authorities that did not seem to be getting anywhere. The matter seemed to have been shelved for good when Francesc Miró-Sans won the FC Barcelona presidential elections on November 14, 1953. The new president was a fervent supporter of the idea of building a new stadium as soon as possible and one of the first things he did after coming into office on February 18, 1954 was to locate the future stadium on the site purchased in 1950, rather than at the top end of the Diagonal. And so, on March 28, before a crowd of 60,000 Barça fans, the first stone of the future Camp Nou was laid in place under the presidency of civil governor Felipe Acedo Colunga and with the blessing of the Archbishop of Barcelona, Gregorio Modrego.

The construction (1954-1957)

The architects of the new stadium were Francesc Mitjans Miró, cousin of Miró-Sans, and Josep Soteras Mauri, with the collaboration of Lorenzo García Barbón.

More than a year later, on July 11, 1955, the club commissioned the construction work to the INGAR SA company, who estimated the project at 66,620,000 pesetas, claiming it would take 18 months to complete. However, the stadium would eventually cost an awful lot more than the original estimate, eventually totalling around 288 million pesetas, an amount that would need to be covered by successive issues of mortgage obligations ((100 million pesetas) and short term bonds (60 million pesetas). This measure meant the construction of the stadium could be financed, but would leave the club in heavy debt for many years after.

Although work on the stadium was not yet complete, more than 90,000 spectators were able to witness the event, which continued with representatives of all the major football clubs in Catalonia parading on the pitch, as well as members of the club’s other sports teams and the supporters clubs. The new Stadium Anthem was then performed and the first game to be played at the Camp Nou kicked off at half past four in the afternoon.

Adriano Correia Claro ( SB ) Biografy

Adriano Correia Claro (26 October1984, Curitiba) signed a four year contract, with the option of a further season and a 90 million Euro buy out clause, on July 17th 2010. After playing futsal as a youngster he was signed by Seville from Brazilian outfit Coritiba, where he debuted at the age of 18, and played for the Andaluz club for six seasons from 2004 to 2010.

The Brazilian won an impressive number of medals with Seville, picking up at least one title in four of his six seasons at the club. The last one being the Spanish Cup won at the Nou Camp at the end of the 2010 season against Atletico Madrid. He played a total of 157 games for Seville and scored 11 league goals.

Adriano was also a part of the 2003 Brazilian under 20 World Cup winning team and won the Copa America with the full national side in 2004.

One of Adriano’s great strengths is his ability to play in a variety of positions. His skill and forward running are always to the fore when he plays at either left or right back and his attacking instincts and hard work also mean he can easily fill a number of roles in midfield. HONOURS

FC Barcelona
2011/12 European Super Cup
2011/12 Spanish Super Cup
2010/11 Champions League
2010/11 Liga
2010/11 Spanish Super Cup

Brazil
2004 Copa América
2003 Under-20 World Cup

CAREER

2011-12 FC Barcelona
2010-11 FC Barcelona
2009-10 Sevilla FC
2008-09 Sevilla FC
2007-08 Sevilla FC
2006-07 Sevilla FC
2005-06 Sevilla FC
2004-05 Sevilla FC
2003-04 Coritiba
2002-03 Coritiba

Daniel Alves da Silva ( SB ) Biografy

Born on May 6, 1983 in Juazeiro (the Brazilian state of Bahia), Daniel Alves started out playing at youth level for the biggest club in the region, Esporte Clube Bahia. He progressed through the ranks, and was just 18 when he played his first top flight match, when the club was being managed by former Barça man Evaristo de Macedo.

Alves’ first professional title was the Bahia Championship in 2001 followed by the Northeast Cup in 2001 and 2002. This led to a call-up for the Brazilian Under 20 team in January 2003. Sevilla had their eye on him, and brought him to Europe on loan.

As time went by, Alves consolidated his role as both a defender and part of the attack in the Sevilla team that in 2005/06 won the UEFA Cup. The Brazilian was named best player in that competition, and a few months later, won the Super Cup as his side beat FC Barcelona in Monaco.

A year before joining Barça, Alves won the Spanish Super Cup by beating Madrid and also gained his first Champions League experience. Sevilla went out in the second round to Turkish club Fenerbahçe. In that 2007/08 season, Alves played 33 league games and was the second most used player in the squad after Navas.

Alves is also an important member of the full international Brazil team. In the summer of 2007 he was in the Copa America winning side, and two years later lifted the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

It is going forward where he most impresses, and he can shoot with both his left and his right foot. He is also a free kick specialist, and is highly renowned for his crossing ability.

Gerrad Pique ( CB ) Biografy

Gerard Piqué i Bernabéu (; born 2 February 1987 in Barcelona, Catalonia) is a Spanish Association football, currently playing as a Defender (association football) Centre back for FC Barcelona.

A product of Barça's cantera, Gerard Piqué initially left the club for Manchester United F.C. in 2004, where Gerard Piqué remained for four years, before returning to Barça under Josep Guardiola's leadership, helping the club become the first Spanish club ever to complete Treble (association football). Piqué is one of four players to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams, the others being Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Samuel Eto'o.

Piqué has also represented the Spain national football team, making Gerard Piqué debut on 11 February 2009. Gerard Piqué played an integral role in the Spain team that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Club career
Early career
Piqué started Gerard Piqué career in FC Barcelona's youth teams as a Midfielder Defensive midfielder, but before Gerard Piqué signed Gerard Piqué first professional contract with the club, Gerard Piqué decided to join Manchester United F.C.. The Premier League side did not pay a fee for Piqué as Gerard Piqué was too young to have a professional contract.

Return to Barcelona
On 27 May 2008, Piqué signed a four-year contract with Barcelona, with a Euro50 million buy-out clause. Barcelona paid a €5 million fee for the player, which later escalated to €11.5 million after making Gerard Piqué 50th appearance. Gerard Piqué expressed Gerard Piqué joy at re-signing with Gerard Piqué boyhood club, although Gerard Piqué admitted Gerard Piqué had enjoyed Gerard Piqué spell at Manchester United:

Piqué's first goal for Barcelona came in the club's 5–2 UEFA Champions League 2008–09 group stage win at Sporting Clube de Portugal on 26 November 2008. Gerard Piqué first domestic goal for the club followed two months later, on 29 January 2009, in a Copa del Rey 2008–09 match against local rivals RCD Espanyol. The goal, which came from a corner kick in the 57th minute, turned out to be the game winner in a 3–2 victory for Barcelona.

Piqué scored Gerard Piqué first league goal for Barcelona on 2 May 2009, in a 6–2 away thrashing of Real Madrid C.F., in El Clásico. On 13 May 2009, Gerard Piqué picked up the first trophy of Gerard Piqué Barcelona career as Gerard Piqué helped Gerard Piqué club to a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final. Three days later, Barcelona clinched La Liga 2008–09 after Real Madrid lost 3–2 to Villarreal CF, with two games left in the season.

Gerard Piqué played against Gerard Piqué former club Manchester United in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final on 27 May, which Barcelona won 2–0, hence completing a historic Treble (association football). On 26 February 2010, Pique signed a contract extension that will keep Gerard Piqué at FC Barcelona until at least the summer of 2015. On 28 April 2010, Pique scored in Barcelona's semi-final second leg against F.C. Internazionale Milano, scoring the only Barcelona goal of the game. Barcelona lost 3–2 on aggregate.

International career
Piqué was a member of the Spain national under-19 football team side that won the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in Poland. In a 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship Final win against Scotland national under-19 football team, Piqué put in a strong performance in defence, hitting the crossbar with a header, and also providing Gerard Piqué team's second goal for Forward (association football) Alberto Bueno.

Subsequently, Gerard Piqué played in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, starting all six of Spain's matches and scoring a goal in the team's come-from-behind 4–2 victory over Brazil national football team in the round of 16. However, Piqué missed the deciding Penalty shootout (association football) against the Czech Republic national football team and Spain were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.

On 6 February 2009, Piqué was called up to the Spain national football team for the friendly against England national football team on 11 February. Gerard Piqué played the entire match in a 2–0 win, in Seville.

On 28 March 2009, Gerard Piqué was called-up as a replacement for injured teammate Carles Puyol, and ended up scoring the only goal in Spain's victory in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) against Turkey national football team in Madrid, in what was only Gerard Piqué second appearance. Four days later, Gerard Piqué also started in Istanbul in a 2–1 win, also in the group stage. Pique was Spain's first-choice centre back playing along side Barcelona teammate Carles Puyol at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, starting all seven matches as Spain won the tournament, defeating Netherlands national football team 1–0 in 2010 FIFA World Cup Final.