FC Barcelona caused quite a stir among the plethora of joggers, bikers and others enjoying a comfortable summer evening in Central Park on Monday.
Everyone around the North Meadow wanted to catch a glimpse, take a picture or get an autograph from the team's various stars, in town for Wednesday's international friendly at Giants Stadium against the New York Red Bulls.
Everyone, that is, but the softball players on the adjoining fields, who tried to maintain a sense of normalcy with all the excitement just a few yards away.
Fresh off a comprehensive 5-2 victory against Mexican powerhouse Chivas de Guadalajara at Soldier Field in Chicago Sunday night, the La Liga giants arrived in New York Monday afternoon and participated in a light and brief training session on the plush Central Park grass.
"We started well, but it's a very long, long road ahead of us," Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola said at a midtown Manhattan press conference. "We're ready to face it and it's important to start on the right foot.
With a throng of media documenting their every move on one side and fans on the other side watching from behind a chain-link fence, Barcelona players did some jogging, stretching and some cardio work in the 45-minute session.
Helping ensure everything went smoothly was 15 members of the NYPD Soccer Club, including its head coach and defender Ron Mejia, who gladly volunteered their services.
"It was amazing. They look a lot bigger in real life," Mejia said. "On TV they don't look so big, here they look very fit. It's just great."
Mejia and his teammates presented the Barca players with NYPD jerseys, hats and patches and the two teams posed for a picture when the session concluded.
"They're stacked with players," Mejia said. "Some people who don't understand soccer I try and explain to them to picture meeting the Yankees. That's how it is."
Andes Baeca, a 20-year-old visiting from Canada, was able to secure a few autographs on his soccer ball, including one from his idol, Rafael Marquez.
"It was great," he said. "I mean Barcelona -- c'mon! How often do you get to see them? It was a little short, but we got some signatures."
One player noticeably absent was Lionel Messi, who instead was with Argentina preparing for the Olympics in China. But according to Barca captain Carles Puyol, it's business as usual even without one of the world's best attackers.
"The team will continue training the same," he said. "Messi is a really important player for us and we'll have to wait and see if he returns in preseason. But with or without him we'll keep training and if he doesn't return we'll wish him good luck in the Olympics."
A few Barcelona players will participate in a charity soccer match in Manhattan Tuesday afternoon before a training session at Giants Stadium. And then it's on to a highly anticipated match against the Red Bulls at Giants Stadium for the second time in three years.
"Everyone knows I love New York. I come here quite often and I really enjoy the town," Thierry Henry said. "I have friends here and it's always a town I enjoy to be in. Hopefully we are going to have a good game on Wednesday."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
