Barcelona will play in Yokohama

Ronaldinho Gaucho and his club, Barcelona, will play a friendly against J-League champions Yokohama Marinos on July 30. This is the second time the spanish team visits Japan in the off-season. Barcelona were held to a 3-3 draw by Yokohama last month and then defeated Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 three days later.

In their first game against Yokohama, Barcelona were missing most of their stars such as Brazilian Ronaldinho and played with just 13 players, two of them goalkeepers, leaving coach Frank Rijkaard with just one reserve outfielder.

But the Spanish side has promised to bring all their top players this time.

"It is definitely an exceptional case to have a re-match against a team that we played only a while ago in front of 55,000 spectators," Yokohama president Shigeo Hidaritomo said Thursday.

"We are going to play the best team, including Ronaldinho. We promise that we will show the best game between the Spanish and Japanese title holders," he added