Joan Laporta Goes So Close, Yet So Far…

By: chris | July 9th, 2009

This had the potential to be one of those epic quotes shoved in the faces of Barcelona’s most despised Clasico rivals for years and years on end. Joan Laporta so swiftly hurtling the gavel down and declaring his Cules the superior.

“We make Ballon d’Or winners and others have to buy them.”

It even sounds sexier in the native tongue.

“Nosotros fabricamos Balones de Oro y otros los tienen que comprar.”

That should be on t-shirts, coffee mugs, frisbees. People should be naming babies Nosotros fabricamos Balones de Oro y otros los tienen que comprar.

Just one slight issue…it’s not true. Not yet, at least.

Luis Suarez
Johan Cruijff
Hristo Stoichkov
Rivaldo
Ronaldo
Ronaldinho

Those are Barcelona players who’ve won the Ballon d’Or since its inception in 1956. However, quite famously non-European players playing outside Europe weren’t allowed in until 1995, so it was hardly worth the paper it was printed on to some degree (read: no Pele).

Luis Suarez comes closest as a true Barca product, having been bought as a 19 year old by Deportivo La Coruna and not making a name for himself until the Catalonia days, but still didn’t come through the kiddie setup. As for the others:

Cruijff: Had played damn near 300 games for Ajax and already had one Ballon in his cabinet (two more to follow).
Stoichkov: 24 upon his arrival in Barcelona and fresh off a season of 38 goals in 30 games – he was already half-decent.
Ronaldo: El Fenomono was on the books of Inter when he won it in 1997, but it was on the back of that magnificent lone season for Barca. He’d already made his European name with PSV.
Rivaldo: Barcelona was his fifth side and they paid a mint for him.
Ronaldinho: Gremio, PSG and the Parisian nightlife made Ronaldinho.

None, sadly, who came through the youth ranks of Barcelona. And even crazier…they were all bought. Most for massive, massive sums. Kinda like those Madrid fellas.

And strangely enough a similar fate has been suffered by Real Madrid – their youth system has never produced a Ballon D’Or winner. Astounding, isn’t it? Two of the greatest trophy hauliers in history and they’re still missing one of the biggest.

Now it’s pretty obvious Laporta was attacking more the more recent regimes on the other side of the Clasico fence – the Blancos having bought the two most recent winners for a hefty sum within the last month – but he’s still wrong. At least for now. This will probably change next fall when Lionel Messi meanders his way up to the podium to kiss the golden ball not from Becks, as he did make his way across the pond at the tender age of thirteen. Not to mention having Barca to thank for the hormone treatments which made him the towering man he is today. Yet all in all, not quite true.

But why let mere facts stand in the way of a great quote?