Carles Puyol: "We're very pleased that we are able to help these children"

Every year the FC Barcelona first team players visit local hospitals to hand out gifts to children ahead of Three Kings Day (January 6). After this morning’s open-door training session, Carles Puyol, Cesc, Messi and company kept the tradition going.

The Barça captain, Puyol, talked to Barça TV and fcbarcelona.com about today’s experiences: “We’re very pleased to be able to be here, it’s great to see these kids, to be able to give them a little bit of joy ... these are hard times for them, but we’re trying to bring them happiness and a bit of help. We’re aware that it’s good for them to see FC Barcelona players.”

It’s believed that the health of many of the children takes a turn for the best after they're visited by their role models and idols. “It’s incredible, just for that reason we should do this much more often. That’s the real value of being able to do this, you realise that you have the ability to help a lot of kids,” said Puyol.

Tito and Abidal, examples to follow

According to the full back, “when you come to these places you realise what kinds of things can happen to you and we need to give thanks for our health, it makes us see reality and have our feet firmly planted on solid ground.” Each and every one of the players are very aware of this reality, seeing that the team has had to deal with two very tough situations that hit close to home. The two cases are Tito Vilanova and Éric Abidal. Puyol noted that “those were two very hard blows and on top of it, it happened twice [to both men]. They are an example to us, because they fight on a daily basis to keep on moving forward. They are also an example to others, they’re proof that if you fight you can compete at the highest level – like Abidal is doing now.”