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That does not mean Seattle did not have their chances. In fact, Sounders Fc had the best early chance of the match off a buildup started by new signing Leo Gonzalez. The Costa Rican stepped by his defender and played in a ball to Ljungberg, who found himself unmarked in the center of the field.

The Swede laid off to Jaqua, who took a few touches before taking what was admittedly a weak shot with Ljungberg and Fredy Montero waiting at the back post. In all, Gonzalez made several solid runs from his left back position, a promising sign for the Sounders FC fans in attendance.

Barcelona battled back. In an instant, Messi’s through ball put Krkic in on goal. Kasey Keller, who played for Rayo Vallecano in Spain for two seasons, was on hand to make the save to keep the match scoreless.

If one had to make just a single differentiation between the two sides, it would be Barcelona’s calmness on the ball in the penalty area. In one sequence, the Spanish side waited for what seemed like an eternity before Henry attempted a volley. Although the shot went wide, the composure shown by Barcelona gave the spectators insight into how the team won three trophies a season ago.

Seattle’s chances might have been few, but they were quality. In the 15th, Seattle’s Steve Zakuani made a promising run down the left side, beating Dani Alves with speed before getting in a decent cross in front of Puyol. However, no Seattle player could get on the other end of the ball.

A minute later, Keller drew quite a cheer from the capacity crowd after saving a Messi effort.

On the other end, Ljungberg had a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring in the 19th minute. A botched clearance from FCB goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto, who started in place of Victor Valdes, went straight to the feet of Ljungberg just outside the area. The midfielder, who was all alone, took a touch to settle the ball but shot wide as Pinto scrambled back into position.

The miscue was magnified as the always-dangerous Messi opened just one minute later. After accepting a pass from Xavi in midfield, Messi had plenty of time to line up his shot from a little over 20 yards. The attempt evaded Keller’s dive as the visitors claimed the early lead on Messi’s left-footed strike.

Alves forced another diving save from Keller off a swirling free kick as Barcelona closed out the first half with a series of forays into the Sounders FC penalty area. The extended spell of possession was almost rewarded with a goal, but Messi’s softly taken far-post shot, which beat an onrushing Keller, hit the woodwork and was cleared away.

However, Messi would not be denied his second. Xavi again set him up, lofting a chip over Seattle’s Gonzalez. Although it looked like Messi might take the pass on the volley, he quickly chested down and poked a shot by Keller for his second goal.

Seattle attempted to battle back through Zakuani, who played an excellent attacking first half. He managed to strip a Barca player and play a cross to Montero, unmarked again at the far post. However, the Colombian’s volley skittered wide as the game went to halftime.

As expected, a raft of changes awaited at the beginning of the second stanza. Only one player for either team, Seattle’s James Riley, stayed in the game.

While spectators did get to see some of the biggest Barca stars, there were four noticeable absences. Andres Iniesta (stomach flu) didn’t make the trip, while Victor Valdes (general muscle fatigue) sat out. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who just started training with his new team two days ago, is recovering from hand surgery while Rafa Marquez suffered a torn left calf muscle in Barcelona’s morning training session. The Mexican defender is expected to be out for 10-15 days.

Barcelona tacked on another goal in the 75th minute. Pedro Rodriguez’s prescient pass found a streaking Jeffren Suarez, who chested down the cross-field ball and beat backup goalkeeper Terry Boss. Jonathan Dos Santos, younger brother of Giovani Dos Santos, forced a dive from Boss a few minutes later.

The crowd of 66,848 was the largest ever crowd to watch soccer in Seattle, barely eclipsing the number of fans who came out to watch D.C. United draw with Real Madrid in 2006 at this same field.

With the exception of the two goals, the second half did not hold a great deal of action. Michael Fucito drew a yellow card with a rash slide tackle on Barcelona’s Gerard Pique as Seattle’s reserves hoped to impress in their limited action. But the quality of Barcelona’s reserves was superior and the Catalans managed to hold the ball with relative ease.

Barcelona added a fourth in the final minute of regulation. This time Rodriguez tracked down a loose ball in the penalty area after Boss had batted down a rocket from Barcelona’s new left back, Maxwell Andrade.

Andrew Winner is a contributor to MLSnet.com.

 

SEATTLE, Wash. — El FC Barcelona fue superior al Seattle Sounders FC y consiguió un holgado triunfo por 4-0 en el Qwest Field, con gran actuación de Lionel Messi, Xavi y Thierry Henry, quienes fueron los referentes en la victoria del elenco catalán, en su segundo partido amistoso en suelo estadounidense.Los pupilos de Josep Guardiola, que vistieron con un uniforme alternativo de color rosado, saltaron a la cancha de la capital del estado de Washington con varias de sus figuras como Puyol, Vaxi, Messi, Bojan y Thierry Henry.

Por el lado del cuadro esmeralda, el sueco Freddie Ljungberg, ex jugador del Arsenal, y el ex arquero del Rayo Vallecano, Kasey Keller, fueron las piezas básicas que buscarían contrarrestar el armamento del elenco culé.

La nueva contratación, el sueco Zlatan Ibrahimovic, aún está convaleciente de la mano y no estuvo presente en el campo de juego. Otro lesionado de último momento fue Rafael Márquez, quien en el calentamiento volvió a resentirse de una lesión en la pierna derecha y quedó fuera oficialmente del encuentro eliminatorio del próximo 12 de agosto entre las selecciones de México y Estados Unidos.

Los 62 mil aficionados reunidos en la sede esmeralda cantaron los himnos de España y de Estados Unidos y comenzaron a ver el show de Messi y Henry; de hecho, en los albores del cotejo, “Titi” sacó un tiro que pasó muy cerca del marco de Keller.

Corrían los 15 minutos y el Barça no le prestaba la pelota a los dueños de casa, de hecho, Bojan hizo un poco de magia, pero fue contenido por Marshall y el colombiano John Kennedy Hurtado.

A los 18′, Pinto, el arquero blaugrana, se desconcentró en una jugada sencilla y Ljungberg quedó con la oportunidad de abrir el marcador para Seattle, pero erró su disparo.

Como reza el dicho: “gol fallado es gol recibido”; Lionel Messi recibió un pase de gran nivel de Xavi Hernández y definió correctamente para abrir el marcador.

Sounders FC perdió el equilibrio en el medio campo y Abidal comenzó a pasear el esférico junto a Víctor Sánchez y Busquets. Evans, Alonso y Zakuani intentaban agarrar la pelota, pero el Barcelona no lo permitió jamás.

De hecho, los elementos españoles lucharon cada balón con garra y a los 31′, Busquets se llevó la amonestación por un duro golpe sobre el ex estrella de los “Gunners” del Arsenal, Freddie Ljungberg.

A cinco minutos de finalizar el primer tiempo, “Leo” se hizo presente por segunda ocasión en el marcador. Si a los 38′ había puesto un tiro al palo, a los 40′, Messi disparó raso para dejar sin opciones a Keller, a quien sólo le faltó pararse a aplaudir al estrella del Barcelona.

Al arrancar el segundo tiempo, “Pep” Guardiola cambió a su once inicial para darles juego a sus suplentes y entre los que entraron destacan los nombres de Touré, Gudjohnsen y el mexicano Jonatan Dos Santos, hermano de Giovani Dos Santos, ex jugador del Barça y ahora integrante del Tottenham de Inglaterra.

Con un segundo tiempo también plenamente dominado por el actual campeón de la Liga de España, la Champions League y la Copa del Rey, cayeron el último par de tantos de los ibéricos. Golazo de Jeffren, a los 74′, y de Pedro, a los 89′, dieron por culminado el triunfo del conjunto culé que demostró su poderío ante Seattle Sounders, que si bien es cierto que luchó, también lo es que tuvo enfrente a un rival superior.

El siguiente encuentro de los catalanes será el próximo domingo contra las Chivas del Guadalajara, que andan de capa caída en la Liga azteca, en el Estadio Candlestick Park de San Francisco.

Abel Reyes Díaz, investigador de contenidos editoriales deportivos, ha trabajado también en Editorial Televisa como Editor en Jefe y copywriter de Fox Sports México, así como en el Periódico Reforma y Grupo Radio Centro; colabora a la vez con sus artículos en FutbolMLS.com.