The passion for Barça in South Korea has been clear since the squad landed in the country. At the airport, the hotel, at training sessions and at the game against FC Seoul, the local fans have proved themselves to be avid culers during the blaugranes first visit in 15 years. Another great example came on Friday in the Seoungsu-dong area of Seoul when the fans had the chance to get even closer to the Barça heroes during an event organised with the Club's main partner, Nike.
At the Nike Store in the neighbourhood of the capital, hundreds of fans dressed in blaugrana welcomed the figures of Alejandro Balde, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Marcus Rashford and coach Hansi Flick as the blaugrana representatives took part in the series of activities during the event.
Street football with the Barça captains
First off, there was a 'street football' challenge with four local players competing amongst themselves in a 1 on 1 format. The Korean players were in fact chosen by the four Barça players who were playing the role of 'captain'. In the first semi-final Team Gavi overcame Team Balde to reach the final whilst in the second Team Frenkie de Jong got the better of Team Rashford.
In the grand final, Team De Jong took victory with scenes of great celebration reminiscent of a Barça goal in official competition.
Personalised shirts...in Korean
Once the competition was over in the intense heat in Seoul, the Barça players made their way to TOMA Seoul Market, a place where the players learnt a little bit more about Korean culture, especially in the case of coach Hansi Flick, who was not one of the captains in the 'street football'.
The Barça representatives were delighted to see the personalisation of Barça shirts with names in Korean and a corner of the store dedicated to vintage football shirts belonging to famous clubs in Europe.