Kiko Seike came up with another great strike (Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)
Kiko Seike came up with another great strike (Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)
Kiko Seike stunned Barcelona with a great strike as Albion took on the best team in Europe.
And there as plenty for Albion to take from a 3-1 defeat at the Estadi Jordi Cruyff as the new WSL season draws near.
The Seagulls were invited to face the Catalan giants in the traditional Trofeo Joan Gamper curtain-raiser to the season.
European champions Barca duly won the trophy for the fifth time out of five.
But Seike’s finish from out on the right pegged them back to 1-1 at one stage and was the first goal they had conceded in such fixtures.
Albion boss Dario Vidosic said: “They are a terrific team, and the resilience was clear.
“We had about ten minutes to prepare for this game after Genk (a 3-0 friendly win in Holland on Tuesday), with just one training session before jumping on a flight.
"That's never ideal when you're playing the best team in Europe - the Champions League winners - and you saw that class.
"In the first half in particular, we got caught between two pressing ideas and how we wanted to approach it.
“We cleaned that up in the second half, and I thought we were much better."
The locals seemed reasonably impressed by Albion.
Mundo Deportivo, the leading sports daily newspaper in Barcelona, said their side had to work hard to beat an Albion side with “merit”.
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They also pointed out how the Seagulls were a threat on counter-attacks while Seike’s strike was hailed as a “golazo.”
Picked out by a perceptive long pass by Jelena Cankovic, the Japan star beat her marker and thrashed a shot past Barcelona and Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll.