Barcelona acquires another Mexican Prodigy

March 17th, 2006 | by: John |

FC Barcelona is making a yeoman’s effort to improve the quality of Mexican Soccer. They added to their list of developing prodigious Mexican talent by coming to an agreement with Efraín Juarez Valdez, one of the “niños heroes” that won the FIFA under-17 World Cup last summer in Peru. In addition to Juarez, Barcelona also has Giovanni Dos Santos on their B squad and his brother, Jonathan, playing for their youth squad. Dos Santos was unbeleivable in the Fifa under 17s, he won the silver ball as the tournament’s 2nd best player, and some fans are wondering why he won’t get a shot on the senior squad next summer.

On the other hand, Juarez is in the middle of a messy divorce with UNAM, but will in all likelyhood join his teammate and countryman in Barcelona very soon. Barcelona is starting to leave a very impressive footprint in Mexico. They have opened schools in Monterrey and San Luis Potosí, the only schools outside of Catalonia. And of course, Rafa Marquez is a first team mainstay for the blaugranas.

The future definitely looks bright for Mexican soccer. The golden boot winner of Peru, Carlos Vela, signed with Arsenal and is currently on loan to Celta de Vigo in Spain. So, if Mexico crashes out in their customary second round exit, fans can say “wait until South Africa” with a lot more confidence.