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Guardiola will succeed, Pogba is amazing: former Barcelona star Abidal

SINGAPORE – In a football career that spanned 14 years, Eric Abidal won everything there was on offer at club level. Four league titles with Lyon were followed by four more at Barcelona, where he added two Champions League trophies.

Former Barcelona star Eric Abidal playing mini-football with some youth players from the FC Barcelona Football School in Singapore during Thursday's launch of the global partnership between Nestle Milo and the Spanish club. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

Former Barcelona star Eric Abidal playing mini-football with some youth players from the FC Barcelona Football School in Singapore during Thursday's launch of the global partnership between Nestle Milo and the Spanish club. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

SINGAPORE – In a football career that spanned 14 years, Eric Abidal won everything there was on offer at club level.

Four league titles with Lyon were followed by four more at Barcelona, where he added two Champions League trophies.

In March 2011, the French defender was diagnosed with a tumour in his liver and underwent surgery. Two months later, he was handed the captain’s armband by Carles Puyol and lifted the Champions League trophy after playing the full 90 minutes in Barcelona’s 3-1 final win over Manchester United.

Abidal, who won 67 caps for Les Bleus at international level, later recovered from a liver transplant in 2012 to play two more years before retiring from the game.

The 37-year-old was in Singapore on Thursday (Jan 19)  to share his inspirational journey at an event marking a four-year global partnership between Nestle MILO and former club Barcelona, which aims to promote healthy lifestyles and physical activity among children in Asia, Oceania, Africa and Latin America.

Abidal delighted four youth players from the local Barcelona Football School as he joined them in a mini football match.

He then chatted with TODAY about former boss Pep Guardiola and other football-related issues.

 

Pep Guardiola is experiencing a difficult transition to English football in his first season at Manchester City. What do you think has happened there?
Abidal: Now that’s he’s changed club and country, he has to adapt to the (new) club and players; the players also have to adapt to the coach and the coach needs time to make (put) all the projects in place. At the beginning, everybody was happy he signed a contract with Manchester City; (but) now in sports, I think the fans are wanting (to see) only the results. But football is not only (about) the results, it’s like a project; you need time to achieve your goals. And he knows for sure before he signed his contract that the work will be difficult, but not impossible. The first year, he’s out to put in place the ideas and tactical things; the second one, for sure, will be better for him and Manchester City.

So you believe he will succeed at City?
A: Yes. In Munchen (with Bayern), that’s why the big clubs want to hire him, because with Barcelona he showed that he had a kind of philosophy, different than other coaches. I think for English football, it’s good to have some (other types of) coaches like Guardiola and (Jose) Mourinho (at Manchester United).

Over in the red side of Manchester, it looks like Paul Pogba is struggling to live up to his world-record signing status at Old Trafford. Why do you think that is so?
A: Paul Pogba is an amazing player. He chose to come back to Manchester, I think that’s a fantastic story. But people have to know that the Premier League is not (like) the Italian league or Spanish league; he’s still young, a good player but he (needs time) to adapt. He has a lot of good potential, he’s a player very important for the squad and needs time to adapt to the coach, team and the league.

Can Pogba be a top player like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi?
A: We can’t compare, every player is different but for sure he has a lot of talent, every game he is demonstrating that and his level is growing.

How does the La Liga compare to the Premier League in terms of popularity?
You can’t compare. If you come to Spain to play, for sure you will enjoy it. My dream for example was to play in Barcelona, and maybe for some (other) players, that is to play in England. It is true that a lot of people in the world watch the Premier League, but also a lot of other people are awaiting the Clasico (between Real Madrid and Barcelona) every year. The fans have to enjoy the games every weekend (regardless of league), see good matches and support their teams.

The Barcelona team you played in is regarded as one of the best club sides ever, with their attractive style of play and the numerous trophies that were picked up. Will we see another team like that again?
A: Maybe yes, maybe not. Now when you watch the German league, like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, they play very good football, it’s amazing to watch these games. In future, for sure, all the teams will be growing with new projects and goals, and everybody will be enjoying (these matches) every weekend.

Can Barcelona win the league this season?
A: It’s difficult. You don’t only just have Barcelona, you have Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla… While they are not the first in the league, I know the club and the players; the mindset every year is to win trophies. They will fight until the end.

Do you miss playing?
A: No, I am finished! I am not a player anymore, I am enjoying (life) with family and some friends, playing futsal sometimes, and charity games. Football was my work, now I close this page and open another new one. I help children with cancer (through my Eric Abidal Foundation); life is not easy (for them) but we try to make all these families (have) better (situations) every day.

Interview edited and condensed for clarity. Find the full interview on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TODAYsports.

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