OFFER Hibs star David van Zanten the choice of a moment of glory in tonight's glamour clash with Spanish giants Barcelona or victory on the opening day of the SPL season and there's only one answer.
"I'd take the three points against Kilmarnock," was his immediate retort, arguing that as appealing as the thought of a headline-grabbing win over Barca might be, there's no way it would measure up to triumph at Rugby Park. Many would argue, of c
ourse, that the former St Mirren star will never get the chance to have that view put to the test given the Nou Camp outfit are overwhelming favourites to notch a comfortable win on what is their second visit within a year to Murrayfield.
Van Zanten's case, however, is firmly bedded in the fact that amid all the hype surrounding the visit of Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and co, tonight's encounter represents nothing more than another part of the respective clubs' pre-season preparations.
He did, though, admit pride was at stake with Mixu Paatelainen's players determined to produce a performance which would not only meet with the approval of their illustrious visitors – although Barcelona are the home side for the purposes of this game – but their own fans.
The Dublin-born defender said: "I'd imagine that like ourselves Barcelona have their own agenda in playing these games against ourselves and Dundee United, but for us it is all about preparing for Kilmarnock on August 9.
"But, yes, tonight is a bit different from the usual pre-season matches you'd play.
"It's a great opportunity to play one of the biggest teams and some of the greatest players in the world so I think we are all excited and everyone wants to play.
"Hopefully it will be as competitive as possible, the more competitive the better your match fitness becomes and that, at the end of the day, is what pre-season games are about both for Barcelona and ourselves."
Barcelona have, of course, become familiar visitors to Scotland over the past 12 months, last summer's friendlies against Hearts and United followed by Champions League ties with Celtic and Rangers.
And that, allied to a Thursday night kick-off and the match being screened live on television, has led to predictions of tonight's crowd falling far short of the 57,000 plus which watched Barca and Hearts at Murrayfield a year ago.
However, if Barcelona's appeal – the Catalan club are now shorn of the services of Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho – appears to have diminished, Van Zanten begged to differ.
He said: "I don't think anyone could get fed up watching the best players in the world and Barcelona have plenty of them. I can't imagine anyone not wanting to see them.
"They may have lost Ronaldinho and Deco but they still have Messi, Henry, Samuel Eto'o and, of course players like Carles Puyol, Iniesta and Xavi who all won Euro 2008 with Spain only a few weeks ago.
"They've signed Alexander Hleb, Daniel Alves and Gerard Pique.
"They have so many top-class players it's easy to forget some of the names and they remain a top, top team."
Van Zanten was on holiday, still waiting to report for his first day's training with Hibs following his move from Love Street, when he heard he'd be getting the chance to face Barcelona in one of his first matches in a green and white shirt.
He said: "I got a text from my father-in-law while, ironically, I was in Marbella. I didn't know what he was talking about at first but even then it was exciting news.
"I watched as much of Euro 2008 as I could and I think every football fan wanted Spain or Holland, teams like that, who go out trying to win every game by playing good football, to win the championship.
"The Spanish League is one of the most exciting to watch, they have teams packed full of terrific players so to get the chance to test ourselves against one of the very best sides is fantastic.
"As a professional football player these are the games you want to play in. There's pride at stake, you want to do your best against whoever you might be playing."
In that respect, Van Zanten claimed not to have given a moment's thought about the possibility of coming face-to-face with Henry. He said: "You don't really know who they are going to play so I'll just wait until we see the team they are putting out and who I might be up against – provided I'm picked myself."
The visit of Barcelona should, if as expected Van Zanten makes Paatelainen's starting line-up, will cap a remarkable beginning to the 26-year-old's Easter Road career which kicked off with the InterToto Cup matches against Swedish side IF Elfsborg.
He said: "It's certainly been rather unusual, being thrown into two competitive matches straight away but hopefully we'll see the benefit of that when the season gets underway."
Defeats home and away to Elfsborg were greeted with dismay by some sectors of the Easter Road support but while understanding their disappointment, Van Zanten believes there is often a danger of reading too much into pre-season results.
He said: "Of course we'd have liked to have made further progress but Elfsborg were a quality side in the middle of their season while those were our first games and fitness did tell at the end of the day.
"We all knew about the likes of Anders Svensson and Teddy Lucic from their time in English football but they had other really good players like Emir Bajrami and Stefan Ishizaki who, I think, no-one over here had really heard of.
"I'd like to think that if we'd been halfway through our season when we'd met them we'd have given them two really close-fought games. I'm sure if we were to get a result against Barcelona tonight our fans would be delighted.
"But, again, you wouldn't be able to read too much into it, our target, as we have said all along, is to make sure we come out on August 9 with all guns blazing.
"I'd much rather have the three points from Rugby Park than a result tonight which would mean absolutely nothing."
As yet, Van Zanten remains Paatelainen's only summer signing, but he insisted Hibs fans shouldn't be working themselves into a lather over the apparent lack of movement.
He said: "I haven't really thought about it, obviously the gaffer is trying to bring other players in and I am sure it will happen.
"But there's already plenty of optimism in our dressing room.
"We've had a longer than usual pre-season and we still have a few build-up matches to go but, as yet, I think most of us have really only played two or three games.
"I'm sure that by the time Kilmarnock comes along we will all be match fit, sharp and ready to go."
The full article contains 1178 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
