In the 11-18 January, 2010, issue of the magazine Don Balón (#1785), Alfredo Martínez asked Sergio Busquets 50 questions, ranging from the serious to the inane.  Below are a sample of some of the questions, along with Busquet’s answers.

# Your best friend in the world? – Xavi Hernández
# What is your favorite food? – Whatever my mom makes.
# When was the last time you cried? – The day of the Champions League final, after the game ended.
# In football terms, in what areas have you improved in the last few years? - I think a little in all, right?
# What did you learn from your parents – To respect people and to be a good person.
# What does a football player do in the afternoons? – Be with family, with friends, and do the shopping that I can’t do in the mornings.
# What idols have you had? – Very few: Figo and later, now, Xavi
# Apart from your own, with which country would you sympathize the most? – It’s the same to me — I am only of one [country].
# What other sports do you or have you played? – Many: ping-pong, tennis, basketball . . .
# Make a wish in a loud voice — That things continue has they have been, both with Barcelona and with la Selección.

“We do not have to prove anything to anyone, not even ourselves. We continue on with the same mentality that we have had last year, we continue to win things and I think we’ve demonstrated it,” was the statement made by FC Barcelona striker Lionel Messi in an interview yesterday on Barca TV regarding their performances this year.

Touching on the five point advantage that the Catalan club has over Real Madrid in the Primera Liga, the Argentine admitted, “It is an important advantage because they are already five points, but we also know that there are still a lot of league matches left, that this is going to be a very long competition. In the second round everything will start all over again and Real Madrid will still be there.”

Messi, who on Sunday became the youngest Barcelona player to reach 100 goals for the club, was asked to pick his favourite, and what the record means to him: “Other than the great goals, I keep with me the important goals in the finals, which to me, is much more beautiful.”

“The truth is that, as in all the important things that have happened to me, I don’t give it too much weight, and sometimes, I don’t even realise it.”

“I live a quiet, normal life, and is always eager to do more things,” he acknowledged.

Asked to point to the person responsible for his goals haul, the 22-year-old player suggests it is his current coach Pep Guardiola, “I have always said that to me, he means a lot. It is in every detail that I have with me, and I am very grateful to him.”

Talking about Barcelona’s Copa del Rey elimination, Messi admitted to having dissatisfaction with himself, “It’s not that I have a ‘wish’ to beat (Sevilla keeper) Palop, but my inability to score in the Copa, embittered me a bit. In Sevilla, I could have won the game (for the team), because I got my chances, and just like yesterday (Sunday), I had two or three. Making the goal liberated me. I was not obsessed with the goal itself but by the fact that I fail to beat Palop in the Copa.”

Finally, told to recount the second-leg Copa match in Sevilla, the striker said, “In the second half we were totally superior, and we had several very clear chances to score more than one goal. It’s tough, because we wanted the title (again). We were convinced that we can mount a comeback, and we would qualify to the next round. It was upsetting.”

FC Barcelona Juniors Luján, the training centre that Barça has in Argentina, has signed a cooperation agreement with the Messi Foundation and the Club Renato Cesarini football school.

The FCB Juniors Luján (FCBJL) training centre has been nurturing young talent in Argentina with the same methods used at the Club’s academy here in Barcelona for the past three years. Now FCBJL has reached an agreement with the Messi Foundation and the Club Renato Cesarini football school to strengthen ties between the three organizations.

Promote sport

The aim is to exchange experiences and ideas to promote the game amongst young people. FCB Juniors Luján will bring their training method to youth football at all levels.

Clinics, matches and other activities

As a result of the agreement there will be football clinics, matches and a variety of activities related to football. A number of friendly matches were played recently at FCB Juniors Luján’s facilities in La Candela.