Kids back from Dream Soccer Trip with FC Barcelona

Three football mad youngsters from Dubai celebrated the end of 2008 in style, seeing out the last of the year by enjoying the sporting trip of a lifetime.

The trio, who are students at a local soccer school, were invited to participate in an international tournament that was held in Poland and the team they represented were none other than the world-renowned Spanish giants, FC Barcelona, one of the greatest names in the game.

The three boys were selected from around one hundred students enrolled at the FCBEscola Soccer Academy, which commenced at Jumeirah’s Raffles International School in September last year.

They have been honing their skills under the tutelage of FC Barcelona coach, Josep Gombau, who holds the Level 3 Soccer Coaching Badge; a license awarded by the Catalan FA and one which entitles him to teach football skills at all grades, from grassroots standard right up to international level.

There will doubtless be more than a few stories for the lads to share with their fellow students when the academy restarts this week, as their exciting and packed itinerary saw them receive additional tuition at the club’s famous Camp Nou ground.

The boys also had the opportunity to meet FC Barcelona’s first team players at a training session and after demonstrating the talents that have helped propel FC Barcelona to two UEFA Champions League Cups, four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups and two Super European Cups, the superstars - including Lionel Messi, Thierry Henri and team captain Charles Puyol - were more than happy to mingle with the awestruck youngsters for photos and autographs. Another visitor happy to be snapped with the children was none other than Sven-Göran Eriksson, the ex-England manager, who was visiting the Camp Nou on the same day.

Following the brief sojourn in Barcelona, it was off on a plane for Berlin and a three hour coach drive to Poland, where the boys took part in a tournament with junior squads from other well-known football clubs; famous names that included Celtic, Sporting Lisbon, Lazio and Valencia. Out of 13 teams participating, Dubai’s FCBEscola finished in 8th place, a position that academy director, Seif Tawfik, says was a more than respectable result. “We came up against some very, very good sides and the standard of football in the competition was extremely high,” he admitted. “A number of the teams playing in the contest were directly attached to major European clubs, so our final position showed that we performed very well. I’m proud of the way our players conducted themselves and the spirit they showed throughout the competition,” he added.


The Dubai youngsters’ inclusion in the squad highlighted the cosmopolitan and rapidly expanding nature of the city, as all hail from different parts of the world. One of the players, nine-year-old Nicholas Kruze, landed in the emirate just two months ago. Nicholas’ favourite aspect of the trip was when he got to interact with FC Barcelona’s superstars after the first team training session. Asked who he enjoyed meeting the most, the reply was instant and unequivocal. “Messi,” he said. Nicholas’ familiarity with being a part of a multi-nationality community may have helped in breaking down any potential barriers during the tournament. “I made friends from Egypt and Spain who were in my squad from the other FCBEscola schools,” he revealed.


Representing the Middle East for the Dubai FCBEScola team was Adham Hamza from Egypt, who is also nine years old, or, as he prefers to put it, “I’m nine-and-a-half - I’ll be ten in April.” Adham was keen to share his own tournament highlights. “I enjoyed meeting Thierry Henri the best and having my photo taken with him,” he said. Having been resident in the warmer climes of the Middle East and Gulf, the sports mad youngster also mentioned the difference in temperatures between the two continents, relating some surprising information. “It was actually colder in Barcelona than it was in Poland,” he said.


Julian Lamadrid was the third student who flew to Spain. The 10-year-old hails from Mexico and his natural command of Spanish was a boon when it came to communicating with the other youngsters. “I didn’t have a problem talking to the payers in the competition, as most spoke English or Spanish,” he revealed. “I was also able to translate for some of the other boys, as well.” As a dyed-in-the-wool FC Barcelona fan, the highlight for Julian was also the training session at the Camp Nou, where he got to meet his heroes. “The best bit for me was meeting Lionel Messi – I managed to have my photo taken with him,” he said.


FCBEscola runs football academies across the region; in Cairo, Riyadh and Kuwait, with Dubai being the latest affiliation to the scheme. Dubai’s school restarts this Saturday 10th January after the seasonal break and continues throughout the year until June, with training taking place three evenings a week and match days held on Thursdays and Saturdays. It is open to all children - girls as well as boys - between the ages of four to 16. Any parent interested in enrolling their child should contact 04-391 5038 for further information.