Barca shows up…again

From GOAL, the New York Times Soccer Blog. The full article can be found at http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/barca-promotes-fight-against-malaria/?scp=1&sq=barcelona%20malaria%20no%20more&st=cse with an excerpt provided below.

Barca Promotes Fight Against Malaria

Aug. 3, 2009, by Jack Bell

On the field, Barcelona plays with a ruthless beauty that is the envy of the soccer world. Off the field, the Catalan club’s social conscience extends beyond its home in Spain. That benevolence was on display Saturday night at the Rose Bowl when Barcelona played the first of three matches on its tour of the American West Coast.

As Barca took the field in front of more than 90,000 fans at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night, its players were wearing a new warm-up top, one that heralds the club’s commitment to a new effort it has joined to help in the eradicating of malaria in Africa — United Against Malaria.

“For Barca, our motto for 110 years has been ‘More Than a Club,’ ” Dr. Marta Segu, the executive director of the club’s foundation said in a telephone interview. “The club has always defended human rights against dictatorship and promoted the Catalan language. This time we said, O.K., we have a responsibility with society around the world.”  (The article continues at http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/barca-promotes-fight-against-malaria/?scp=1&sq=barcelona%20malaria%20no%20more&st=cse)