Puyol: Drogba was the toughest opponent I faced
Monday, April 3, 2017
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Former Barcelona captain Carles Puyol picked out Didier Drogba as the toughest opponent he faced and divulged a love of snails as the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour hit Bogota.
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UEFA Champions League fever swept through Bogota over the weekend as three-time winner Carles Puyol took European football's most prestigious prize to the Colombian capital as part of the 2017 UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour, presented by Heineken.
Thousands of locals flocked to various locations throughout the football-mad city during the three-day event as the former Barcelona captain signed autographs and posed for selfies. He also showed, in his own words, "why I was a defender" as he took part in a freestyle competition against Colombia's finest.
The UEFA EURO 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup winner then sat down for a Q&A with followers of the UEFA Champions League Instagram account, in which he picked a surprise favourite food and diplomatically refused to name and shame the worst dresser in the Barça ranks.
Describe in three words how you felt when Barcelona beat Paris 6-1 ...
Puyol: Emotion. Joy. Satisfaction.
Toughest player to defend against?
Puyol: Lionel Messi in training. But if I had to pick an opponent, [Didier] Drogba was always very difficult to face.
Favourite food?
Puyol: Snails. I'm from a small village in Catalonia called La Pobla de Segur and that's the speciality there.
What would you have done if you weren't a footballer?
Puyol: I don't know! Certainly something to do with football or maybe physical training.
Best away stadium?
Puyol: The San Siro in Milan and the Bernabéu in Madrid.
Worst dressed player at Barcelona?
Puyol: I'd need to think about that. Everyone at Barcelona was pretty relaxed in that sense and dressed fairly similarly.
You're stranded on a desert island: what three things would you take?
Puyol: My wife, my daughters and a mobile phone!
Trophy Tour schedule
20–23 March: Kingston and Montego Bay, Jamaica
24–25 March: Panama City, Panama
30 March to 1 April: Bogota, Colombia
5–6 April: Cairo, Egypt
10 April: Mumbai, India
12–18 April: Vietnam
