SPAIN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Sergio Busquets expects attractive match as Barca prepare to face Arsenal in Champions League last 16 first leg

Record ID: 826252

  • Title: SPAIN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Sergio Busquets expects attractive match as Barca prepare to face Arsenal in Champions League last 16 first leg
  • Date: 15th February 2011
  • Summary: BARCELONA, SPAIN (FEBRUARY 14, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BARCELONA PLAYERS AT TRAINING SESSION F.C. BARCELONA DEFENDER SERGIO BUSQUETS TRAINING BUSQUETS AT INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BARCELONA MIDFIELDER SERGIO BUSQUETS, SAYING: "Maybe I'm not such an eye-catching player in that I am not the one who scores decisive goals, but I would define myself as a team placer. I try to sacrifice myself for all my team mates, help out, stay tactically well positioned and play it simple". BUSQUETS AT INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BARCELONA MIDFIELDER SERGIO BUSQUETS, SAYING: "I have always said that I have always liked great players, but I also do not believe I can compare myself to anyone, I believe you always have to try to be yourself." BUSQUETS AT THE INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BARCELONA MIDFIELDER SERGIO BUSQUETS, SAYING: "Apart from knowing a great deal and his experience as a player, he's a genuine student of football and he leaves no detail uncovered, He knows everything about our opponents and where we can hurt them and he prepares for the matches very well." BUSQUETS AT THE INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BARCELONA MIDFIELDER SERGIO BUSQUETS, SAYING: "Very attractive (match). We both are the best two teams playing soccer. They have a very similar philosophy about keeping possesion, about playing fast and passing the ball in triangles. They have top players although they have a young squad and hopefully, we should have a good score." BUSQUETS AT THE INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BARCELONA MIDFIELDER SERGIO BUSQUETS, SAYING: "He is a player who likes to hold the ball, he likes to link up with his team mates, he has a great vision of the game and a very effective final ball. I am used to playing with him for the national team but he is a great player and very hard to stop." BUSQUETS SHAKING HANDS WITH REUTERS REPORTER AT THE END OF THE INTERVIEW
  • Embargoed: 2nd March 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain, Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA3089ZHGDH7YUKVWEZVEK5XBW5
  • Story Text: If a random poll of soccer fans was taken and they were asked to name Spain's key players during last year's World Cup triumph, the chances are nobody would mention Sergio Busquets.
    The 22-year-old Barcelona midfielder operates in the unglamorous defensive midfield role for club and country and is usually overshadowed by higher-profile team mates like Andres Iniesta, Xavi and David Villa.
    During an interview after a rainy session at the club's training base on Monday (February 14), the softly-spoken Busquets exuded an air of quiet confidence that may be partly the result of having a goalkeeper father, Carles, who played for Barca in the 1990s.
    Busquets junior joined in 2005 the club's spectacularly successful youth school, which has honed the talents of Lionel Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Guardiola himself, and made his first-team debut in La Liga in 2008.
    Maybe I'm not such an eye-catching player in that I am not the one who scores decisive goals, but I would define myself as a team placer. I try to sacrifice myself for all my team mates, help out, stay tactically well positioned and play it simple," Busquets, dressed in blue jeans and a red sports top, told Reuters, adding that his duty was to give balance to the central midfield.
    He was Asked if he had modelled himself on anyone.
    "I have always said that I have always liked great players, but I also do not believe I can compare myself to anyone, I believe you always have to try to be yourself," he said.
    Former Portugal winger Luis Figo, who left the Nou Camp in 2000 to join Barca's arch-rivals Real Madrid, was one of his childhood heroes -- until he left for the Spanish capital, Busquets joked.
    Guardiola has brought other talented players through from the reserve team, including Busquets's close friend Pedro, another Spain international who has had a meteoric rise.
    "Apart from knowing a great deal and his experience as a player, he's a genuine student of football and he leaves no detail uncovered, He knows everything about our opponents and where we can hurt them and he prepares for the matches very well," the 22 year old player said.
    Looking ahead to Barca's Champions League last 16, first leg at Arsenal on Wednesday (February 16), Busquets said he expected a very attractive game between two sides with similar playing styles.
    Barca beat Arsenal 6-3 over two legs in last year's quarter-finals, drawing 2-2 in London before Messi scored all four goals in a 4-1 comeback win at the Nou Camp.
    "Very attractive (match). We both are the best two teams playing soccer. They have a very similar philosophy about keeping possesion, about playing fast and passing the ball in triangles. They have top players although they have a young squad and hopefully, we should have a good score," he stated.
    Busquets's Spain team mate and the Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas was the English club's standout performer, he added.
    "He is a player who likes to hold the ball, he likes to link up with his team mates, he has a great vision of the game and a very effective final ball. I am used to playing with him for the national team but he is a great player and very hard to stop," he said.
    Busquets last month extended his Barca contract by two years until 2015, with an option for another year, and said he was hoping to finish his career in the Catalan capital.
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