Iniesta and Marc Andre Ter Stegen spoke in an event organised by UNICEF and the Barca captain claims the club are gunning for a back-to-back treble while the goalkeeper said he isn’t in love with Barca rivals Real Madrid
Barcelona players Andrés Iniesta and Marc-André Ter Stegen spoke during an event organized by the FC Barcelona Foundation and UNICEF in Los Angeles on Monday, July 20, just a day after the club’s arrival for their US Pre-season tour.
Andres Iniesta spoke on the values of the club using football to reach out to children around the world.
“Sport and football are a means to reach a lot of children. They see us as reference figures and that, for us, is a responsibility. We always try to get across the best things that we learned during our own formative years and what we were taught by our own parents.”
Iniesta then spoke of the possibility of Barcelona winning the Treble for the second time consecutively and the star admitted it’s a major challenge for the team but they’ll try to repeat the feat.
“We’ll try to repeat it, but we’ll need to work hard to do it. No team has ever done it twice [in a row]. It’s a new challenge for us. We’ll battle to achieve it while knowing that it’s going to be very complicated to do it again.”
The Barca captain also expressed his joy and happiness playing football saying it is a ‘pleasure’ for him but doesn’t like the extra-recognition he often gets as a footballer.
“Having the opportunity to do what you most like doing does have its negative side. Playing football is a pleasure for me but sometimes you would just like to be able to walk about and not be recognised. I know it’s a privilege to be part of this organisation and everything that comes with it.”
Ter Stegen was with Iniesta and also had some things to say. The Barca goalie said he does not really like Barcelona’s rival Real Madrid.
“[Real] Madrid are a side which I don’t really like that much; we have a big rivalry with Espanyol too because we are from the same city but there is a lot of respect between us. Those derby games are always very intense.”
Ter stegen also said it’s a pleasure playing for Barcelona and that he feels proud wearing the Barca-shirt with UNICEF logo on it.
“It’s a pleasure being at this club. We’ve got a lot of responsibilities with the children and I feel very proud to wear the UNICEF logo on our shirt. I always wanted to be a footballer.”