stop for a long time in a tunnel because at that time the town of Portbou in Girona was being bombed by the Fascist air force . After making it through this difficult passage , a long voyage across the Atlantic began on 24 May , arriving in Mexico on 8 June .
FOUR MATCHES IN THE UNITED STATES In North America , FC Barcelona was seen more as a supporter of the legitimate republican regime than as a simple football team . In fact , the team was received amidst popular clamour , especially in the Mexico of Lázaro Cárdenas , a fervent supporter of the Spanish Republican cause . After a two-month tour of this country , Barça played four matches in the United States . The first was at the Commercial Field stadium against the Brooklyn Hispanos , who were defeated 2-4 . The next match was , once again , against the Hispanos who , despite having improved , lost again ( 3-4 ). Afterwards , the Barça team overcame a combination of the best players of the local league ( 0-2 ) and , finally , a combination of players from the best teams in the Jewish community , in a match played at night , under artificial lighting ( 0-3 ).
Ultimately , the results were the least important element of that tour . What was even more important was the prestige FC Barcelona achieved in defending democratic values and the financial resources it obtained , which saved its economy at a very delicate moment in its history .
ONLY HALF OF THE TOURING PARTY RETURNED
The dramatic situation in which Catalonia and the Spanish state as a whole found themselves led the players Ventolrà , Urquiaga , García , Gual , Iborra , Pedrol and Tache to decide not to return to Barcelona and instead to take up residence in Mexico . Balmanya , Escolà and Zabalo did the same in France . In the end only half of the touring party , the delegate Rossend Calvet , the coach Patrick O ' Connell , the masseur Àngel Mur , the caretaker Modesto Amorós and the footballers Argemí , Babot , Bardina , Rafa , Pagés and Munlloch , dared to return to that Barcelona that was ensconced in the middle of the war .
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