Barça’s Masia football factory had a day of glory to frame in its history: January 10, 2011. That day, Leo Messi won a new Ballon d’Or and the two players who preceded him in the voting were Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández. The three Barça players, trained at La Masia, occupied the podium.
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The spot of what the blaugrana youth academy represents is going to have an even greater impact today. Because the World Cup final, the most important and transcendent match of all, where every four years the best national teams compete for the honor of being the champion of a sport that is the most followed and popular on the planet, features two players from La Masia as the main figures.
Not even the best advertiser in history could have devised such a powerful image as the first match that Leo Messi and Lamine Yamal will play – and surely the last – being contested for the World Cup.
The best footballer in history, 39 years old, against a 19-year-old aspiring to be among the greatest footballers in history. And both, with a past in Barça’s youth academy. During this week, memes and AI videos of real photos of a very young Messi bathing a baby named Lamine are flooding phones and TV programs worldwide.
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Fate holds surprises that no screenwriter or writer could have imagined. Anyway, Barça fans can feel very proud. As they were in South Africa in 2010, where two other Barça youth players were decisive for Spain to win its first World Cup: Carles Puyol scored the semifinal goal, and Andrés Iniesta, the final goal.
And, by extension, Barcelona too. The city that bears the club’s name, as José Luis Núñez once slipped – to whom the credit for La Masia is due – can benefit from the huge impact this final will have.
Now we just need the best national team in the world to beat the best player in the world, as our great Luis Buxeres aptly titles today in La Vanguardia from New York. Enjoy it.
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