Football icons Barcelona on Wednesday launched their first European training school outside Spain in Poland, aiming to spread their “tiki-taka” style among kids dreaming of becoming the next Lionel Messi.
Only 620 boys from the 3,000 “FCB Escola Varsovia” hopefuls made the final cut for a programme teaching the fluid passing play that earned Barcelona the 2011 Champions League title and helped Spain win Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.
At Wednesday’s debut a forty-strong pick of the crop were put through their paces by coaches including Carlos Alos, sent by the Catalan powerhouses to run the school. “It’s kids that are the most important thing,” said Warsaw’s sports director Wieslaw Wilczynski.
“But it’s also important for Polish football,” added Wilczynski, who as deputy sports minister in 2005 played a key role in launching Poland’s successful bid to host the 2012 European Championships along with neighbouring Ukraine.
The youngsters are aged from six to 12.
“These could be the players who could represent Poland on the global stage in the future,” Wilczynski told AFP.
Polish fans pine for the glory days when Poland won Olympic gold in 1972, silver in 1976, and finished third at the World Cup in 1974 and 1982.
With the current squad failing to shine, realists are already looking well beyond Euro 2012.
In another effort to boost football, the government-run “Orlik” programme – “Little Eagle”, in a nod to Poland’s avian emblem – has built hundreds of artificial pitches in communities across the nation of 38 million.
The school does not have a building, but instead involves regular sessions run by Barcelona-trained Poles at four Warsaw community pitches.
Monthly fees are 190 zloty (43 euros, $58). Poland’s average net wage is 2,300 zloty.
Barcelona do not have a financial role – their input involves supplying know-how – and the remaining costs are covered by Warsaw council via sponsors.
Barcelona already have six similar schools across the globe, in Egypt, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Peru, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
“We are here because we know that Poland has a lot of fans of Barca. They have good installations here, and we received a good project from here,” Alos told AFP.
They do not aim to use the school to cherrypick young Poles for their club, he underlined.
“For us, the goal is to develop football, the kids, to put the focus on training the kids, like a person and not only like a player. We’re here to work with our philosophy, our mentality, our methodology and the most important thing for us is to show our philosophy around the world,” he said.
“If, after that, some of the kids can play in international teams, we’ll be very, very happy,” he added.
Barcelona – whose slogan is “more than a club” – and its players are a global brand.
Asked by AFP to name their favourite player, the Warsaw youngsters yelled: “Messi”.
Over 70 percent of Barcelona’s players are home-grown.
Even though Messi, now 24, is Argentinian, he joined Barcelona as a youngster.
Alos told AFP it was “too early” to speculate whether similar talent could emerge in Warsaw.
Pressed to assess the quality of Polish football, he said: “I think there are good Polish players in different, good leagues. Maybe not now in Spain, but some Poles played in La Liga before.”
“I think the level here is like in other places,” he added.
They are the current leading soccer tipsters in this month competition. See also tipsters rankings.
![]() |
maxsoldiers
posts a 1X2 tip on Annecy vs Caen 2 minutes ago |
![]() |
maxsoldiers
posts a 1X2 tip on Yeovil Town vs Wealdstone 2 minutes ago |
![]() |
maxsoldiers
posts a 1X2 tip on Aldershot Town vs Boreham Wood 3 minutes ago |
![]() |
maxsoldiers
posts a Over / Under tip on Laval vs Dijon 3 minutes ago |
![]() |
Koper123
posts a In-Play Asian Handicap tip on Mannsdorf vs Schrems 5 minutes ago |
![]() |
eLDonkay
posts a In-Play Last Team to Score tip on Thun vs Luzern 10 minutes ago |
![]() |
eLDonkay
posts a In-Play Over / Under tip on Thun vs Luzern 10 minutes ago |
![]() |
veve
posts a In-Play Odd / Even tip on Nova Venécia vs Serra 19 minutes ago |
![]() |
veve
posts a In-Play Both Teams to Score tip on Nova Venécia vs Serra 19 minutes ago |
![]() |
veve
posts a In-Play Half Time / Full Time tip on Nova Venécia vs Serra 19 minutes ago |
Upcoming football matches with excellent head to head records over their opponents.
|
Sign in to view more football matches.
Football clubs who play better for their home games H2H.
|
Sign in to view more football matches.
Football clubs that play well for their away games.
|
Sign in to view more football matches.
Motivated teams after winning five matches in a row or they have maintained a ten-match unbeaten run. The bookmakers label them as favourites for a reason.
Teams in crisis after five consecutive defeats or they did not win their last ten football matches. You should avoid betting on these underdogs.
Teams having a draw in the last five matches.
Hi everyone, it's with super great pleasure to be part of SOCCERPUNTER betting platform , we get to learn and polish our betting skills as football lovers from all over the globe ?, we just got to watch the world cup out in Qatar , but I feel like SOCCERPUNTER is the World cup as well because we to get to compete against each other from different countries and it's very nice , we get to make friends as well. Thank you to the SOCCERPUNTER team as a whole for this such a good platform.
Best Regards
Vuyo
This tipsters ranking is based on single picks excluding doubles and multi accumulators. For the full ranking click here.
Tipsters with consecutive winnings in their recent predictions.
Tipsters whom have lost a few matches in a row. Bad luck you call it.
Soccerpunter is a magnificent site that make me to challenge my talent without fear and also make me to improve with my forecast.
From as little as $1 per soccer tip.
|
According to our computer algorithms, match fixing might occur to these football matches with highly unusual odds movement prior to kick-off.
Sign in to view the potential fixed matches.
Arbitrage is an effective way to make guaranteed profits without losing your money.
Analyze soccer matches, inclusive of past results, head to head stats, today match fixtures, live soccer odds, players and team form.
Check the latest and fastest live score results for all football matches. Know who are the goalscorers, yellow card and red card offenders.
Read up these useful tips for soccer betting.
Get the listings of soccer leagues and competitions for each region, including past seasons results and football statistics.
Want to bet on a match today? Check out the list of today match fixtures.
Read MoreGet the match results for all the soccer matches around the globe. Inclusive of half-time, full-time results.
Read MoreAre you an expert in soccer betting? Join SoccerPunter Tipsters competition to challenge against the top football tipsters and win prizes!
Read MoreCopyright © 2002-2020 SoccerPunter Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved.
Be the first to comment: