Barcelona’s Masia are still one of the best academies in world football, but they’ve already created one of the greatest youth teams of all time.
In 2002-03 they ended their unbeaten Under-15 campaign, winning the Catalonia title, the Spanish league title and the Copa Catalunya.
A pre-match team photo before a Copa Catalunya game against Espanyol has made history and wWe took a look back on this side to see how they all fared.
Dani Plancheria
Plancheria, who was often a spectator in this squad, played for all of Barcelona’s youth teams but never made a first-team appearance for the club.
After being released at the end of the 2007-08 season, he had a brief stint with the Blackburn Rovers Under-23s before returning to Spain in January 2009.
The goalkeeper has spent most of his career in Spain’s lower leagues, representing CE L’Hospitalet, CD Montcada and UE Rubi. He moved to the outskirts of Barcelona in 2013, spending a season with fourth division team Santboia before hanging up his gloves.
Jose hinojosa
Despite being part of such a talented Barcelona side, Hinojosa has never actually managed to become a professional footballer.
The midfielder, who was once a roommate with Cesc Fabregas, has often played for the local Martinenc amateur team and has also started teaching young footballers in Catalonia.
Gerard pique
Prick decided to leave Barcelona soon after this Famous photo was taken, joining Manchester United at the age of 17 in 2004.
But the Spain international only made 23 first-team appearances for United and couldn’t break the incredible center-back partnership between Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.
Pep Guardiola brought him back to Camp Nou in 2008 and he has since become the most decorated defender in Barcelona history, winning eight La Liga titles, seven Copas del Rey and three Champions Leagues.
Oh, and he also has a World Cup and a European Championship on his CV.
The 2003 Barça Cadete (Youth) team. Can you spot Messi, Fabregas, Pique and others? pic.twitter.com/UsAn2e3jj7
– Daniel Haswell (@Dan_Hazz) March 1st, 2013
Marc Valiente
Despite being club captain for most of their youth teams, Valiente has only made two senior appearances for Barcelona and both have entered the King’s Cup.
The central defender left Camp Nou in 2008 and made a brief stint at Sevilla before eventually becoming a regular with Real Valladolid’s first team, making 157 appearances in all competitions during his five years at the club.
After leaving Valladolid in 2015, he then went on a world tour and enjoyed stays at Maccabi Haifa, Eupen and Partizan Belgrade.
The 34-year-old returned to Spain with Sporting Gijon in the summer of 2019 and remains a key player in the Segunda division.
Roger giribet
Giribet signed for Barcelona academy on the same day as a certain Lionel Messi, but that’s where the similarities between the two end.
“I was amazed by him,” Giribet told Goal in 2017. “I was aware that my physical development had opened doors for me at the club. I was 1.70m at 12, but he wasn’t one. was not even 1.50 m.
Unlike Messi, the defender has never made a first-team appearance for the Blaugrana and was released at the end of the 2005-06 season.
He then made a career in the lower leagues of Spain and currently turns out for Artesa in the sixth level of the country.
Cesc Fabregas
After rising through the ranks at Barcelona, Fabregas joined Arsenal’s academy in 2003 in search of a better route for first-team minutes.
“I was 15 and I was the captain of this team and I was very appreciated,” he said on The Locker Room. “[But] on me there was [Andres] Iniesta, there were other players who had a lot of potential to be successful.
“One day a scout came from Arsenal to talk to my parents. The guy told me he came to see me over 50 times and told me I was made to play for Arsenal and in the Premier League.
He became that of Arsenal youngest first-team player in October 2003 then became one of the best midfielders in the world under Arsene Wenger.
The Spain international was drawn to Camp Nou in 2011 and has made more than 150 appearances, winning a La Liga and Copa del Rey title.
But he failed to break the iconic midfielder trio of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta and returned to London with Chelsea in 2014.
After winning two Premier League titles in his four and a half years at Stamford Bridge, the 34-year-old now plays for Monaco in Ligue 1.
Cesc Fabregas at his bestpic.twitter.com/GgvS9rz5KW
– GOAL (@goal) April 7, 2021
Julio Jesus by Dios Moreno
Failed to make the grade at Barcelona, Moreno joined Terrassa in 2007 and reunited with his colleague who graduated from La Masia, Roger Giribet.
The midfielder has since represented 10 other clubs in the lower leagues of Spain and Now playing for fifth division team Real Jaen known as Los Blancos.
Eugenio Plazuelo
Plazuelo only reached Barcelona’s C team and headed straight to Mallorca’s B squad after leaving the Blaugrana in 2007.
He is yet another player on this list who has become a lower league companion, playing for Sant Andreu, Vilanova, Martinenc, Cerdanyola and Vilassar de Mar.
The 34-year-old joined Cerdanyola for a second stint in December 2017 and is still at the Catalan club, which plies its trade in the fourth tier of Spanish football.
Franck Songo’o
Son of former Deportivo goalkeeper Jacques Songo’o, Franck failed to break into Barcelona’s first team and joined Portsmouth in 2005.
He only made two replacement Premier League appearances in 2005-06 before taking on a series of loans. The winger had spells at Bournemouth, Preston, Crystal Palace and then Sheffield on Wednesday, where he produced a rainbow film against QPR.
Songo’o returned to Spain with Real Zaragoza in 2008 and helped them win promotion to La Liga in his debut season, but was released a year later.
The former Cameroon international had brief periods in America and Greece before deciding to retire at the age of 27 in 2014.
Lionel messi
He did well.
READ: 17 of the best quotes about Lionel Messi: ‘Life with Leo is prettier’
Juanjo Clausi
Clausi’s claim to fame is that he used to sit above Messi and Fabregas in the pecking order of free kicks from the Barcelona youth side.
The winger was one of the most notable players on the squad and helped them win a youth tournament in Italy while being coached by Tito Vilanova.
“I was the top scorer and Messi was chosen as the best player,” Clausi told YoSoyNoticia in 2015. “I keep this photo of the two of us posing with the trophy, and now I see where Leo is and I know that I could share that moment with him… not everyone can say that.
But Clausi left Camp Nou in 2006, then embarked on a nomadic career at the bottom of the Spanish soccer pyramid, playing for 14 different clubs.
The 34-year-old recently joined Recambios Colon in the fifth tier of Spanish football and has also studied electromechanical maintenance as he prepares for a career after football.
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