How Barcelona Learned to Stop Whining and Love the Olympics

I’m happy to introduce to everyone Brendan Farmer, a new writer who will be joining the Argentina World Cup Blog as a weekly contributor. I’ll still be around, but focusing more on the Primera league. Hopefully this will keep the site updated more frequently, and provide more unique content and perspective. The live blog for the quaterfinal match is still on for Saturday morning at 9AM ET; you can watch it online at NBColympics.com/soccer. Hope to see you all there.

Did anyone see the Barcelona game on Wednesday? The “critical” Champions League qualifier that setup a month-long feud over Leo Messi was played between Barca and Wisla Krakow.

4-0. Yes, Barcelona are on the road to an 8-0 aggregate after fighting for a month to prevent Messi from going to the Olympics because they thought that his presence would be crucial in this “clash of the titans.” Let me reiterate that: the Barcelona management were refusing to release Messi because they were afraid of a team from Poland. Barcelona B could have beaten Wisla Krakow; this match was an absolute bloodbath.

Of course, now Joan Laporta, Barca’s president is publicly praising Messi and saying that he’ll be “supporting Argentina in the Olympics.” Good one.

I love watching Barcelona play, but I hate the club.

With that, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Brendan, and I’m in the midst of a year off between high school and University, and I’m traveling to Europe to hit all the big football destinations: Manchester, Milan, Madrid, Rome, Lyon, London, Munich, Porto, and yes, even Barcelona. I’ll be writing for Argentina, covering the national team and European-based Argentineans. I can be crass, obnoxious and opinionated, and if I ever offend anyone, just let me know. I probably won’t care, but I respect everyone who reads this blog and I’ll do my best to entertain and accommodate all of you.