Barcelona president Joan Laporta highlighted La Masia’s influence on the team Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina.
Barcelona’s famous academy has produced nine players who will be in the squad for the title match in New Jersey, La Roja’s eight – Lamine Yamal, Javi, Pau Kuparsi, Dani Olmo, Eric Garcia, Alejandro Grimaldo, Mark Cucurella and Victor Muñoz – and Argentina captain Lionel Messi.
Messi is the most famous of its alumni and the 39-year-old will try to help his country win their second successive world title at the weekend against the European champions.
Laporta, who is in New York, told RAC1: “Messi also reached the final and I am happy. He is a source of pride for La Masia.
“Messi is the past and the present and Lamine is the present and the future. We are very happy that we have created a real playing system at Barcelona. As president, I feel very proud to have trained these two players in our house, and if we add that we (as a club) have Joan Garcia, Eric Garcia, Cobarci, who is having a great World Cup, Olmo, Gavi, Pedri, Ferran… it is amazing.”
Barcelona President Laporta hopes that the referee will put pressure on Argentina’s fitness
Sunday’s match will witness a clash of styles, as the Spanish game plan, heavy on possession, will face off against Argentina’s aggression and determination.
The South Americans made plenty of mistakes in their semi-final win over England, and Laporta will be hoping referee Slavko Vincic will intervene early due to their skill-based play.
He added: “It is the best match that can be played, in different styles, and the referee must be strong. Argentina is more aggressive and the Spanish national team plays in a style of play similar to Barcelona’s style of play. Barcelona is the best ever and everyone realizes that.”
Laporta has been in the United States since Monday and says it has proven to be a very rewarding trip so far.
He added: “We attended many events and held many meetings.” “We were with FIFA, La Liga and the (Spanish) Federation who invited us. These are exciting days alongside the cream of world football.
“(La Liga president) Javier Tebas and (Spanish Football Federation president) Rafael Lausanne are also here. We were able to have dinner and talk about football in general. I’m very grateful to the federation and the treatment they are giving us. We were also with (FIFA president Gianni) Infantino and the FIFA board and we talked a lot.”
