Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi has named the first goal he scored for his side in May 2005 against Albacete at Camp Nou as the “favourite goal” of his career.
The Argentine captain scored a goal for Barca following an assist from Ronaldinho to hand Barcelona a 2-0 win over Albacete at home in the La Liga encounter.
“The first against Albacete from the pass of Ronnie [Ronaldinho], I will never forget, it’s my favourite,” Messi told Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday.
“The goals of the Clasicos are always special and against hard opponents that are usually Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Sevilla. Also those that I have had the luck to score in front of our fans. In Camp Nou they are always nice.
“In the end, the most important goals are not the most spectacular, but those that serve us as a team to win.”
Messi will hope to lead Ernesto Valverde’s side to victory when they tackle Levante on Thursday night in the Copa Del Rey round of 16 second leg tie at the Camp Nou.
NFF, NIKE meets to strategise for 2019
The Nigeria Football Federation and its official kit sponsors, NIKE on Thursday met in Abuja to review activities for year 2018 and plan for the New Year.
Top on the agenda was the activation of the new, robust contract signed by the two parties in Asaba, Delta State in November 2018, especially in the distribution of NIKE merchandise to ensure the products are available to consumers through several platforms across the country.
Opening of more NIKE outlets in Nigeria to deepen the market, preparation of new designs scheduled to be launched in the summer of next year and the exploration of severally mutually beneficial strategies to take advantage of the enhanced contract were also discussed.
“We had a very good meeting and we hope to learn from the successes of last season to build new strategies to deepen the relationship going forward, for the benefit of the NFF, NIKE, football fans and other stakeholders.
“The NFF is very happy with the relationship with NIKE and we are willing to help in every area that they want to activate the contract,” NFF 2nd Vice President Shehu Dikko told thenff.com.
Also at the meeting were NIKE’s Tina Salminen (Director, Sports Marketing, African Football) and Indrek Heinmets (Commercial Director, Sports Division of Hudson Holdings, NIKE’s official distributors), as well as Mr. Alizor Chuks, NFF’s Head of Marketing.Mr. Sean Harris (GM, NIKE) and Wouter van Olm (NIKE’s Strategic Account Manager, Africa) were part of the meeting from NIKE’s Netherland’s headquarters via video call.
