This Friday morning, Guardiola’s team held their first training session with the ball in the United States. The session took place in one of the country’s emblematic stadiums, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.

Barça has now started using the ball for the first time on their ten day tour in the Americas. On Thursday, the players exercised in the gym in the morning, and the evening session wasn’t held. This morning, Pep Guardiola’s squad made their first contact with the ball in the United States, at RFK Stadium, which has hosted a variety of major sporting events, including some games during the World Cup in 1994.

The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, located in Washington, was originally built for hosting baseball games.   This is why the perimeter of the stadium is more oval shaped than a typical football field. Today the stadium is the home of Major League Soccer team DC United.

Without a doubt, the most positive news from the session was Xavi Hernandez returning to full training with the rest of his teammates. The blaugrana’s ’6′ has been working on his own for the past two weeks, and his return to the group was met with cheers from the other players at the beginning of the session.

The session was held in hot weather – 34 degrees – and with 45% humidity which made the conditions intensely muggy. Puyol, Pique and Maxwell all trained outside of the main group. Puyol continues working on his recovery from knee surgery, while Pique and Maxwell have been working on overcoming minor discomfort in the calf and abdominal muscles, respectively.

The squad will train again in the late afternoon, in a session open to fans, and at the same location where Saturday’s game against Manchester United will take place, FedEx Field.

Source: fcbarcelona.cat; Images: Miguel Ruiz (FCB)