Over laboured Ronaldinho to stay out of Villarreal encounter.


Coach Frank Rijkaard has decided to rest Ronaldinho and exclude the Brazilian star in the weekend La liga match against Villarreal. The Brazilian superstar was due to return to Camp Nou by 11.30am on Friday, but the long haul back from South America proved too much and he did not show up. Rijkaard will now preferably use Ronnie in Barca's mid-week Champions League game against Rangers in Glasgow during the forthcoming midweek fixtures.


Ronaldinho was the star attraction in both of Brazil's matches played against Colombia and Ecuador as the five-time world cup champions aim to qualify for the next world cup in South Africa.


The decision to exclude Ronaldinho has paved the way for Giovani Dos Santos to be given a chance of starting in his second league game of the campaign. Bojan Krkic could also move up the rankings as he will be the first choice forward on the bench to go on in El Madrigal, ahead of Eidur Gudjohnsen and Santi Ezquerro.


The full squad includes:


Valdés, Jorquera; Oleguer, Thuram, Puyol, Milito, Abidal, Sylvinho; Xavi, Deco, Iniesta, Marc Crosas; Messi, Henry, Bojan, Giovani, Ezquerro, Gudjohnsen.

It's all joy for Barca's record breaking French goal machine.


FC Barcelona's French international striker, Thierry Henry spoke after setting a new international record in French football as the highest all-time scorer to have ever played for France since history. The spectacular feat was long-awaited, but Henry, in his usual way, expressed joy to his teammates as well, without who he knows he would never have achieved the landmark. Speaking on his feelings, Henry said:

I'm still excited. As I scored, I thought about my father, who is unwell at the moment. I thought of everyone else, of course, but especially my father. Tonight, we still had something to do, which was to beat Lithuania. 15 minutes from the end, it was still 0-0, so it didn't even matter who scored. But in the hallway afterwards, I hugged Thuram in joy. I didn't want victory to be a personal thing. My partners helped me score.

Thierry cautions against over-excitement, saying that one more hurdle between France and the Euro 2008 ticket was still left:

We cannot put this record before qualifying. Now, we'll watch Italy play in Scotland. Should the Italians beat Scotland, then we'll qualify without doing anything. Therefore we must support the Italians, which will be strange!

FC Barcelona team mate of Henry at the French national team also speaks on the history-making game against Lithuania:

We had so many opportunities but just couldn't score. After that first goal, we were able to relax a bit, but we had to stay focused. Conceding would have been catastrophic.

Thierry Henry's record breaking goal against Lithuania and goal number 43.


Watch Thierry Henry score his two goals against Lithuania - goals that set him apart from the rest by writing his name in the record books of international football:

Barca stars hand Argentina second world cup victory in two qualiying matches.


FC Barcelona's duo of Gabriel Milito and Lionel Messi each struck in the first half to give Argentina a 2-0 victory over hosts Venezuela in the South American world cup qualifying match played on Tuesday. The first came in the 15th minute when Gabriel Milito rose highest to head in a precise Riquelme free-kick, giving the visitors the lead much against the run of play. The second was a master piece from player of the moment, Lionel Messi. Carlos Tevez produced some good football on the right before finding the magical Barca forward, who took a few deft touches to cut inside a couple of defenders, and let rip a 20 yard effort that went straight into the corner.


However, deadly second-half head injury on Inter Milan's player, Nicolas Burdisso almost marred the match. Burdisso was involved in a clash of heads with Juan Arango, and unlike the latter, did not move after falling to the ground, in scenes that immediately brought back memories of Antonio Puerta. After a very nervous few minutes, he was somehow strapped and stretchered off and is recovering.

FC Barcelona's starlet scores a brilliant late minute goal to increase his goal haul for Spain.


Watch Bojan Krkic set up his teammate, get the ball back and slam it into the Polish net in true Barca style: