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Devante Clut and Matthew Bilic were separated for the first time in Barcelona today as Nike's scout hunt for a new superstar moved the youngsters out of their comfort zone to see how they react.

Their group was mixed up and divided with another for two separate trial games and drills on the pitches of Barcelona FC's famed youth academy on the outskirts of the Catalan city.

Kiwi Steven Carmichael joined Bilic in one group while Clut was integrated into another as the tempo was raised for the final select few who may join Nike's elite school of football and earn the chance of a pro contract.

With 97 others competing for those few places, rivalry has been intense and teamwork has been limited by the problems of communicating with youngsters from 55 different countries.

Clut, 16, was reduced to tears in the sheds following today's trial after he felt he was frozen out by his team-mates.

"I was very disappointed in my performance today," he admitted. "It was very hard - being split up from the others from Pacific meant I was left by myself and the others on my team weren't working with me.

"It's difficult - everyone wants to impress but it made it very hard for me to play my football."

At the end of the day's session, all three were feeling the pace but have a day off tomorrow before one last chance to impress in Thursday's trials.

"It's hard when no-one speaks the same language," admitted Bilic, 18. "But the international language of football and bit of sign language usually gets the message across."

The Nike roadshow moves to Barcelona's home at Camp Nou for a barbeque tonight, after a beach party thrown by the sportswear company the night before.

The competition is approaching its final stage with the last 100 to be cut down to 52 on Thursday, 26 on Friday and the final 16 selected on Saturday.

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