The Hidden Reasons Why LA MASIA is GO GOOD
La Masia produces football magic!
Lionel Messi. Josep Guardiola. Xavi Hernandez. Andres Iniesta. Sergio Busquets. Gerard Pique. Carles Puyol and many, many other tops!
La Masia presented the world with the footballer with the most Ballon d'Ors in history. La Masia won the 2010 FIFA World Cup by and large. And in 2010, the three finalists for the Ballon d'Or award for the first time were from the same football academy, and that was La Masia. Moreover, let's not forget about Barcelona's victories in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League, where the main role was played by the academy's graduates - all those guys we listed at the beginning of the video!
Under Rosell and Bartomeu, it seemed that La Masia had lost its magic, but with the return of Laporta and the financial crisis, FC Barcelona returned to their roots.
Now La Masia has released new big deals - Lamine Yamal. Pau Cubarsi. Fermin Lopez. Hector Fort. Marc Guiu.
More and more top talents are on the way!
It seems like some kind of magic, but it's more about methodology. A football laboratory.
Barcelona's famous Academy is considered one of the strongest in the world - in particular, according to The CIES Football Observatory, 101 La Masia graduates are currently playing in the top 5 European leagues! Only Real Madrid is on a par with Barca, but try to recall any big talent that La Fabrica has produced in the last 5 years... It will be a big challenge for any football fan!
La Masia talents are currently SHOCKING THE FOOTBALL WORLD!
16-year-old Lamine Yamal is a real star in Barcelona, for whom PSG are already willing to pay €200M, and who has already become an important player for the Spanish national team.
Or take, for example, 17-year-old center back Pau Cubarsi, who has also already made his debut for the Spanish national team and whom Robert Lewandowski did not believe when Pau said he was turning 17.
Indeed, such cases, when youngsters very quickly become major players, and in such a big club as Barcelona, are exceptions to the rules of world football and are considered as a global phenomenon! Like a meteorite falling on a certain part of the globe... The meteorite comparison is quite appropriate when we talk about La Masia's talents and the school itself.
Why La Masia is SO GOOD?
La Masia - which is Catalan for 'the Farmhouse' - is the name that is generally used to describe the Barcelona youth academy, or cantera (meaning 'quarry') to give its Spanish name. Interestingly, the original building, known as La Masia de Can Planes, was an old manor house that was built in 1702. In 1957, when Barcelona opened the Camp Nou near La Masia, this building was already serving as a club office, and in 1979 it finally became a hostel for young talented footballers from outside Barcelona. Later on, it became the place that is known all over the world - THE FC BARCELONA FACTORY OF STARS!
Currently, La Masia accommodates 76 children - these can be football and futsal players, basketball players, volleyball players, and even roller hockey players. Priority is given to children whose parents are far away from their families.
The academy is one of the most expensive in Europe, operating at a cost of £5 million a year. The main cost is the dormitory, La Masia itself. The minimum age for the youth program is six years; each year, more than 1,000 boys from the ages of six to eight try out for admission. The best 200 are selected. The club also actively seeks for prospective students; it employs a system in which 15 scouts are deployed in Catalonia, 15 in the rest of Spain and 10 scattered throughout the world. To alleviate the expenses of this scouting, the club has an agreement with 15 local clubs for them to train players who are not ready for entry into the youth academy. In return, FC Barcelona gives money, coaching and technical advice to these clubs for their services.
Barcelona are also actively developing a chain of their football schools around the world - the network consists of nearly 40 countries around the world: the USA, Mexico, Egypt, Japan, Jordan, India, Hungary, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Poland, Switzerland and many, many other countries.
La Masia is a place where children receive both football and academic education, this philosophy fits in with the club's well-known motto 'Mes que un club' - 'More than a club'.
'La Masia has a teaching staff 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,' - as stated on the official Barcelona website. The club pays great attention and invests a lot of money not only in the education of football players, but also in the education of future society members if the boys fail to succeed in professional football. La Masia also has a "mentoring system" where a tutor provides comprehensive support to boys and girls studying at 'The La Masia - Oriol Tort Education Center'.