Deportes

Ferran Torres, author of the goal that gave Spain the second World Cup in its history, is on a promotional tour in the United States. In an interview granted to the American program Today, on the NBC network, the Spanish international avoided guaranteeing his continuity at Barcelona. “I have a contract with Barça, but in football, you never know. I just hope to make the right decision,” he replied when asked about the team he will play for next season. Asked about what his ideal club would be, Ferran responded with a phrase as brief as it was meaningful: “To be happy.” Luis Enrique’s PSG maintains its interest in the Valencian forward, although Barcelona insists that they do not consider his departure and do consider a renewal. In any case, with a contract until June 2027, Ferran has not yet started talks with the club to extend his link. Barcelona’s intention was to address the renewal once the summer market ends in September, provided there is no unexpected turn in the coming weeks. This will not be Ferran Torres’s only interview. During his tour of the United States, which will last until next Thursday, he has scheduled others with the country’s main media outlets such as CNN.

After nine days in the preseason stage. Hansi Flick closed the Barcelona training camp at St. George’s Park with a very positive assessment of the stay in England. The German coach described the stage as “one of the best training camps” of his career and highlighted both the quality of the facilities and the growth the squad has experienced since his arrival at the club in 2024.

Final training match with three 20-minute periods to close a week at St George’s Park. That was the decision Hansi Flick made after the suspension of the training match, which was supposed to serve as the last preseason friendly, against Preston at the same facilities.

A high-profile party marked the end of Vinicius Júnior’s vacation, who is expected in Valdebebas (he landed yesterday at Barajas) with open arms after a disappointing World Cup both personally and collectively. Right now, he is the footballer who attracts all the attention due to a renewal that has been delayed over time amid false promises that “everything was going to be fixed”; although, for the moment, with only 11 months left on his contract and becoming a free agent, he remains in limbo. Arsenal is lurking, and from England, they indicate that the option is increasingly solid. On Saturday, Mikel Arteta was asked after the 1-4 against Girona, and his response added more fuel to the fire. “We are very active, trying to improve and evolve the team. We are not going to stand idly by and we are very ambitious about what we want to achieve, we already see our rivals,” he commented. When directly questioned about the Brazilian, he grimaced half-jokingly and left quickly.

Preseason friendly matches are a misleading projection of the future. Sometimes you stumble upon discoveries like Bojan (in 2007, in that match against Egyptian Al-Ahly), but often you have to surrender to the evidence that many preseason football loves are,…

“I feel Flick’s trust and I want to stay in Barça’s first team,” said Xavi Espart yesterday, a versatile right-back of 19 years who can also play as a defensive midfielder, a position with which, for example, he won the U-19 European Championship with Spain. “Being here is a great opportunity to earn a place in the first team,” agreed Álvaro Cortés, a 21-year-old center-back, beside him.

He was one of the first to be born: on January 1, 2008. In the last winter transfer window, he became the first Egyptian footballer in the history of FC Barcelona. And now Hamza Abdelkarim continues to write a career as early as it is promising. Without having yet passed through the reserve team and after debuting with the Egyptian senior national team in the World Cup, where he replaced none other than Mohamed Salah, he became the youngest Egyptian international in history and also the youngest Arab footballer to play in a World Cup.

Gianni Infantino (Switzerland, 1970) appeared in the newspapers a few days after he was born. And his parents were by no means famous. Originally from Calabria (Italy), they emigrated to the Swiss country for a better future. He worked on a railway line and she had a newsstand. And Gianni was born on March 23 with a health problem that required an urgent blood transfusion. His blood type was uncommon (RH null), so only a few dozen people in the world could help him. The hospital obtained the willingness of an Englishman and a Yugoslav, Milica Mucalica, whom Infantino, 46 years later, located to thank her for the vital gesture. That extraordinary chapter combines two of the qualities that have led him to preside over FIFA: coincidences and his cosmopolitan nature. The others are boldness and his obsession with growing the business.

After a day with two hits on the bars in the men’s technical duo and solo technical routine, Spain won its first two medals at the European Championships in Paris. Iris Tió, in a busy day, was present in both, first alongside Dennis González in the mixed free duo and then with Lilou Lluís in the free duo. The first tastes like glory and even brought tears to Andrea Fuentes due to the physical problems of the swimmer from Rubí in his toughest year; the last was in the ear, which prevented them from training the choreography for more than two weeks. The second holds more sadness: Spain had been world gold in Singapore and arrived first to the final… but lost the title by just five tenths.

Jesse Bisiwu is already in England after signing his contract with Barcelona for five seasons. The club presented him with all honors as a new first team player, although he will have a reserve team registration. A future bet for which the Blaugrana entity has paid 8.5 million euros to Club Brugge. This Saturday he completed his first training session under the orders of Hansi Flick. “I will do everything he wants me to do. When he needs me, I will work hard and be ready,” he said.