Let the dead bury the dead. Perhaps Sylvinho won't mind suggesting this as the new motto for FC Barcelona, even it's just for this season only!!


Sylvinho is ready to win titles with Barca this season, and to do this, the Brazilian believes the right state of mind has to be attained. For this to happen, the left-back has kept insisting that the past must be forgotten and the present problems given total attention in order to accomplish goals in the future. This is the formula Sylvinho is presenting once again to the Blaugrana and hopes it will be adopted. Starting his reference from the nightmares of the last soccer season in both Spain and Europe, and commenting on the next match against Osasuna in the La Liga, Sylvinho says:

It’s time to look forward. If we do things right, we can achieve important things. The truth is we finished last season disappointed because things didn’t turn out the way we wanted. We suffered a lot and the final outcome hurt us all. Personally, however, I prefer to think of the future. We have to look ahead and try and learn from our mistakes because we’ve got a lot of important matches and important competitions to come. We’ve got a very difficult match in Pamplona and we’ll have to give 100%. We all know that Osasuna make it tough on their home ground. We have two or three days to prepare this match and we hope we’ll have all our players available to try and take the three points.

Sylvinho also commended the brave young players of the reserve team, Barca B who held their own against tough senior teams of both Girona and Gimnastic in the Copa Catalunya, beating Girona and falling to a late winner against Nastic in the cup final. The Brazilian and his teammate, Ezquerro, both anchored the team in the absence of other senior team players. Sylvinho praises the youngsters:

The best things I saw were the dedication and professionalism of every player from the senior squad and the attitude of the youngsters, which was incredible. These are people who are pushing very hard and are working very seriously.

Taking a little diversion from on-field soccer to football in the office, Sylvinho made a quick comment on the official statement from FC Barcelona's president, Joan Laporta which suggested that players had to be selectively called by their national teams and also be made available to the clubs when the players are not in international action. Laporta also sought for a form of compensation from countries when club players return injured from international duty. The Brazilian left-back grazed the surface of the issue, prefering to leave the matter for the experts to handle:

This is more a political matter than a personal one. There is a series of regulations and we players very rarely have the final word or the right to choose. A player wants to serve his national team and his club with the same dedication. I don’t believe it will be sorted out in the short term.