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OAN LAPORTA is a Catalan

separatist, a politician whose

sometimes delirious discourse

ocuses largely on the pride o his

stateless nation. He carries a burning

desire or Catalan independence rom Spain and the

injustice o the way he claims the nation plunders

Catalonias resources, pillaging rom Barcelona and

growing rich rom its loot without giving anything back.

He also happens to be the ormer president o the

most signicant Catalan fagship o all: Ftbol Club

Barcelona. Not just the ormer president but their most

successul ormer president, winning two European

Cups, humiliating the representatives o Castillian

centralism in their own home and boasting that he

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HowBarcelona

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ywon

theWorldCup

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big tiggowimagesDAVID RAMOS / GETTY IMAGES + FC BARCELONA

nurtured the worlds nest ootballer. He is also the

ormer president who removed the Spanish fag rom

Barcelonas headquarters, replacing it with Catalonias.

So, when Laporta declared this summer that FC

Barcelona won the World Cup, only they were wearing

the wrong shirts no one was particularly surprised.

And no one took him particularly seriously either. Ater

all, he would say that.

But heres the thing: he might just have had a point.

The Spanish national teams captain is a Madrileo;

the coach Vincente Del Bosque has signicant ties

to Ral Madrid; the right back, Sergio Ramos, is

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mSevilla; and one o their central midelders, Xabi

nso, is Basque. But when la seleccin took to the

against Holland in Johannesburg last July, ve o

r starting XI were Catalan: Joan Capdevila (who

ys or Villarreal), Gerard Piqu, Carles Puyol, Sergio

quets and Xavi Hernandez. Better still, seven were

a players: Piqu, Puyol, Busquets, Xavi, Pedro

drguez, David Villa and Andres Iniesta.

s i that was not enough, the man who imposed

yle, a ootball identity, on la selecci n was

celonas Xavi. Barcelonas Iniesta got the winning

l in the nal, Barcelonas Puyol got the winning goal

he semi-nal and Barcelonas Villa got the winning

ls in Spains other victories.

Over on the bench was another Barcelona player:

lkeeper Vctor Valds. Oh, and there was Cesc

regas too: the Catalan rom Arenys del Mar who

an his career at Barcelona beore joining Arsenal

was desperate to return home again. Plus Pepe

na, who began his career at Barcelona beore

ng Liverpool.

hat was Laportas point. Casillas penalty save

been vital, Ramos perormances superb, Alonso

entral gure. You could also argue that Villa, rom

urias in the north, was more Valencias player than

celonas having not yet played a game or his new

b, but still . . .

Barcelona might not have won the World Cup

although can you imagine the Spain side plus Leo

Messi? but they had gone a long way towards doing

so. And it was not just that Barcelona had players in

the World Cup-winning side; it was that they madethe

players in the World Cup-winning side.

O the seven Barcelona players in the Spanish

starting XI, six had been brought through the clubs

youth system. So too Fabregas and Reina. So too

Messi the worlds best player, holder o the FIFA

World Player award, and the Ballon dOr. Argentina?

Messi joined the Catalan club at 13.

Real Madrid may claim to have signed seven Ballon

dOr winners in nine years but not one o them won

the award or what he did at Madrid; in each case he

joined the club with the award under his arm.

Meanwhile, Barcelonas winners Figo, Rivaldo,

Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Stoichkov have won the

award while Barcelona players or, more traumatically,

just ater leaving. More signicantly, Messi is the

current holder, and among the 2010 candidates are

Xavi and Iniesta. We create Ballon dOrs, Laporta

bristled. Others buy them.

Barcelona create a lot more besides. When they

deeated Manchester United in the 2009 Champions

League Final, en route to an historic haul o six trophies

out o six, seven o the starting 11 were homegrown.

In the dying minutes, another youth-teamer, Pedro,

also made an appearance. All are products o La

Masia the symbolic home o Barcelonas youth

system, its academy.

There is no sign o the supply drying up. At least,

thats what Barcelona hope. O the current 19-man

rst team squad, 10 are La Masia graduates. And the

reason that Barcelona have limited the squad to 19 the

smallest in the top fight is that coach Pep Guardiola

has, in his own words, blind aith in the youth team

players he can call into the squad. Maybe not so blind.

At the time o writing, Barcelona B (the reserve team),

were just three points o the top o the Second Division.

And, yes, that is the Second Division.

IT IS hard to look at La Masia and not think o the

opening line o the Asterix books, to see Gaul with

its tents and its resistance. A tiny little hamlet holding

out against the world. La Masia isnt much to look

at. A traditional Catalan stone armhouse, its pretty

enough, but its the act that theres something utterly

incongruous about it that draws you in a curiosity,

a wonder that its still around, stuck between lie and

death; maternity hospital on one side, crematorium on

the other. A stone armhouse dwared by the stadium

and city that has grown up around it, engulng it.

La Masia was constructed in 1702. A peasant

armers home, 610 square metres in size, although

it looks less, and spread over two foors, a modern

day use was ound or it during the 1950s as a kind o

construction headquarters what would these days

be a pre-ab Portacabin occupied by dusty shoes

and high-visibility fuoro vests, home to architects and

builders as they set about constructing the monster

right next door Barcelonas Camp Nou.

When work nished on the stadium still the

biggest in Europe La Masia was abandoned and

stood empty. In 1966, it became Barcelonas social

centre and then, in 1979, the club bought it outright. It

became a residency or young hopeuls the kids who

came to Barcelona to try to carve out a ootball career.

From the windows there is much to see: the citys

prostitute population or a start. David Beckham

recalled watching the other lads leaning out o the

window, whistling and cat calling at the girls on the

street when he stayed there or a weekend ater

winning a Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools competition

as a kid. But, more importantly, you can see the

small pitch where, until three years ago, Barcelonas

rst team trained and, behind that, the Camp Nou:

a constant expression o what they were striving

towards. Aspirations in concrete and grass.

Almost 500 ootballers have lived at La Masia over

the years, amongst them Cesc Fabregas, Guillermo

Amor, Mikel Arteta and Leo Mess

kids in bunk beds, there is a libra

kitchen. The children are schoole

But it is more than just a resid

indoctrination centre in all things

the ocial line has it, the cradle

system. La Masia is shorthand

entire academy a symbol.

Even those kids who never act

always reerred to as La Masia gr

as they lose physical contact with

contact, it is hoped, is to be main

new youth academy, currently un

San Joan Desp, on the edge o t

called the 21st Century Mas ia.

Those who have been throug

with specic skills. Their educatio

one. Thats why indoctrination re

is a zealous, almost puritanical pr

social, political and ootball identi

could even call it a etish. And tha

supporters, is the secret o its su

Not just Barcelonas success

too. The Barcelona philosophy h

philosophy the philosophy that h

success with a rst European Ch

and a rst World Cup ever. A style

Two years ago,Sergio Busquets andPedro Rodrguezhad just won theThird Division title.Now they have won

the World Cup


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me to be known as tiki-taka a nonsensical phrase

broadly means touch-touch or tippy-tappy, one that

about positioning and technical ability, about short,

ck passing and possession.

is a style o which Barcelona are proud and one

y are quick to claim as their own. They are rather

quick to recognise its origins in the Ajax Academy,

ough they do recognise that the philosophical ather

arcelonas current approach is Johan Cruy the

mer player who arrived at the club in 1973 and

nged their history, then later as coach led the Dream

m to our successive titles and the clubs rst ever

opean Cup in the early 1990s. Cruy became a

u, laying down a ootball identity to aspire to.

Cruy-ism was carried to the youth team. More so,

n, than the rst team, bringing about a production

o clever, technical ootballers, determined to play

right way.

n Spain, youth systems are known as canteras,

uarries, as i players are hewn out o the rocks;

celonas have been carved out o works o art.

east thats the sel-consciously superior way

porters talk about it. The commitment to that

roach is unwavering, which helps to bring stability

n in times o instability and generate a certain

e o player.

ome critics eel that might be a disadvantage,

with Barcelona only producing that ideal type, but the

results have been astonishing.

Such is the clarity o identity about Barcelona, that

Michael Robinson, the ormer Liverpool player who is

now Spains leading ootball pundit, insists: Show me

20 kids in a park and I ca n pick out the two who are at

Bara. When kids do get the chance to play in the rst

team, the approach does not change and as a result

theyre more likely to eel comortable, more likely to be

armed with the necessary tools to achieve. As young

Barcelona player Jonathan Dos Santos said earlier this

year ater being given his chance in the rst team: the

ootball is exactly the same.

Stability, continuity, nancial reward and ideological

tranquility are the result. As Hristo Stoichkov claims: I

Barcelona tried to buy the players they have created, it

would cost them a billion dollars.

I we need a new player we will always look at the

youth team rst, says the director o ootball, Andoni

Zubizarreta, himsel a ormer Barcelona legend.

Even Madrids spokesmen have lauded Barcelonas

approach. Jose Mourinho said that Barcelona could

play blindolded. He, on the other hand, has yet to

build an identity or Madrid.

Barcelona are a club that or some time have

worked according to a certain philosophy and

personality and built projects according to that image

and what they think is right, says ormer Madrid

captain Fernando Hierro.

It would be a mistake to place the credit solely at the

door o a La Masia philosophy ater all, Barcelona have

bought superstars too, rom Romrio to Ronaldo, rom

Rivaldo to Ronaldinho, rom Henry to Etoo but over

the last six years, they have won our leagues, a Copa

del Rey and two Champions Leagues, while Madrid

have won two league titles and ailed to win a European

knock-out tie. Madrid were the 20th centurys most

successul club; the 21st century is a dierent matter.

I you look at Barcelonas culture, its the same at

Under 12 and Under 14 level, says Zinedine Zidane.

The guy who looks ater the Under 16s plays the s ame

way as the rst team. You dont nd that at Madrid. You

wonder what their style is. The style o Cruy , o Pep

Guardiola, gives real identity to Barcelona which is

something Madrid still need to nd.

Ah, Guardiola. Where that identity is most clearly

expressed and imposed is in mideld. A stylistic line o

continuity can be drawn rom Fabregas to Iniesta, to

Xavi, down the years to De La Pea and Guardiola.

When Guardiola played, an opponent dened him

in a single word: pam. Single but many. Pam-pam-

pam-pam-pam-pam-pam-pam. Pass, pass, pass. Xavi

described he and Iniesta as sons o the system. Iniesta

recalls the Bara mantra: Receive, pass, oer, receive,

pass, oer. And Fabregas adds: I youve played at

Barcelona, you develop a taste or good ootball.

We are sons o the Dream Team, Guardiola says,

Trying to emulate them. More than a son, he has

become its deender, protecting and enhancing the

legacy. Promoting it.

The day Iniesta rst trained with Barcelona, Guardiola

was still a player. Youre going to retire me, he told

Xavi, But this lad is going to retire us all. The beauty or

Barcelona is that they have been able to work together

the purest expression o a ootball identity, o the La

Masia model. A completion o the circle.

Guardiola was Cruys captain. He then became

Barcelonas second team coach. Now, he coaches the

rst team. When Guardiola was promoted ahead o

Jose Mourinho the man many in the media wanted

Laporta declared: We chose a philosophy, not a

brand. Guardiola, one o his closest collaborators,

says he, suckled at the teat o Cruy.

With that education, Guardiola could hardly do

anything but respect La Masia. And in doing so, he

has allowed Spain to do so too. He has not wavered at

bringing through the kids he mentored. Two years ago,

Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodrguez had just won

the Third Division. Now they have won the World Cup.

La Masia may not be much to look at, but its a tiny

Catalan armhouse that conquered the world.

TAKE THE Barcelona Metro to the Maria Cristina station, almost the last stop on

Exit the station, ignoring the distraction o El Corte Ingles, the Spanish departme

down Avinguda Diagonal past the banks and caes. Turn let at Avinguda Joan X

the sweeping hill toward the ever-looming Camp Nou stadium, Barcelonas hom

imposing place o history, heroes, and legend; one o ootballs true great venues

But its the little stone building were interested in rather than Camp Nou,

or even the mini stadium where Bara teams play and train in a ground

bigger than some other clubs main acilities.

These days La Masia (The Farmhouse rom Catalan),

architecturally out o context and literally in the shadow o the Camp

Nou, is behind a wire ence and gate. But on riendly days you can walk

up the driveway and knock on the ront door to perhaps get a glimpse

o the uture stars o world ootball.

Built as a country house in 1702, La Masia was later used by

architects and builders to construct scale models o the Camp Nou during

its construction in the mid-1950s beore being shut down. It was used asthe club administrative headquarters in the 1960s but rapid sta expansion

saw sta move elsewhere. On October 20, 1979, La Masia was ocially

reopened as living quarters or youth team players rom outside the city.

La Masia originally housed 15 residents, who all lived on the top foor o

the building. It now eatures dormitories, bathrooms, study rooms, a dining

room, and kitchen. As the number o recruits grew, the club also established

La Masia II inside the Camp Nou, taking up two foors o the stadium with bedro

Ten youth players now live in the original La Masia while up to 46 more can

reside in the stadium annex.

The club emphasises that players might become sports stars but theres mo

chance they will not reach the top level so their training is not just or sport bu

the players are bussed to the citys best schools. It is not always easy. Just ask

He was very close to his amily and every goodbye each weekend would b ec

recalls Albert Benaiges, a La Masia coach. Andres would be crying and he spen

house. When my mother sees him smiling now she always makes a joke because

how much he suered in those days. Says Iniesta: You would look out and ther

stadium opposite. It was always on your mind, that the goal was to play there.

FrOm cOunTry hOuse dreAm AcAdemyMatthew Hall charts the history o La Masia

The philosophicalather o Barcelonaspproach is Johan

Cruy who ledhe Dream Teamo our successiveitles and the clubsfrst ever EuropeanCup. Cruy became

guru, laying downootball identity

o aspire to


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IT MIGHT seem slightly ironic but a chain-smoking

Belgian is leading the redevelopment o ootballs

most respected injury prevention acility, the Milan

Lab. It all started in 2002 ater AC Milan had seen$A45 million spent to sign Fernando Redondo rom

Real Madrid go to waste a ter the midelders body

broke down completely.

Keen to ensure they wouldnt make the same

mistake again, the Rossoneri teamed up with

Belgian doctor Jean Pierre Meersseman to try and

discover the secret to eternal youth.

On that ront they might not have completely

succeeded, but when it comes to injury prevention,

Meersseman and his team o experts came very

close and along the way helped make Milan

European champions.

This was the start o the Milan Lab, a high tech

scientic research centre set up by AC Milan whichthe club claims has seen a reduction o traumatic

injuries by 90 per cent.

I you can predict the possibility o injuries,

you stop the player beore it happens, says

Meersseman. He says the way to do this is by

studying the gait o a players jump. Using the

Milan Labs acilities he claims to be able to predict

with a high degree o certainty whether a player will

breakdown with an injury.

The lab is also consulted on all transers to

the club. Take the case o Lyons Aly Cissokho.

Meersseman blocked the transer o the French let-

back ater noticing his bad teeth during a medical.

Thanks to their work in the Milan Lab the Italian

giants understood that Cissokhos dental problemwas one o the signs that a serious spinal injury

may pop up urther down the track.

In 2009 Meersseman used this same approach

to solve David Beckhams back issues, which had

troubled him or quite some time, by solving an

issue with one o his teeth.

In the past the Lab has also helped players

like Brazilian winger Cau, rejuvenating a career

seemingly at its end thanks to injury, and Ronaldo;

beore the serious knee injury that ended his

European career, the Milan Lab diagnosed the

Brazilian strikers hormone problem in his thyroid

and helped him lose over ve kilos.

Meersseman explains this thirst or inormation.You can drive a car without a dashboard, without

any inormation, and thats whats happening in

soccer. There are excellent drivers, excellent cars,

but i you have your dashboard, it just makes it

easier. I wonder why people dont want more

inormation.

So while other clubs ocus on treating injuries,

Milan have made prevention the key.

Yet while the model has never been per ect, last

season the lab hit a par ticular snag with a number

o players suering serious injuries.

It has motivated the Rossoneri to update the

acility and give it, as a club spokesperson explain

to Football+, a new look. Its an extensive proces

that wont be completed until next year.I think (the maximum age or a ootballer is)

around 40. It used to be 34 at most, Meesserm

explained shortly beore ormer ageless Milan

captain Paolo Maldini retired in 2009.

AC Milan will be hoping to push that boundary

even urther once the redevelopment o their

precious acility is complete.

meAnWhILe, In mILAn...Barcelona are amous or their work with youth. Milan, however, have revolutionisedthe treatment o those at the other end o their careers. Davidde Corran reports

I think themaximum age

or a ootballer isaround 40. It usedto be 34 at most

AC MIlAns doCto

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