Rwanda could soon be the continental hub of Spain’s tikitaka style of football following plans by FC Barcelona legends to construct a high-end football academy in the country.

The $10 million (Rwf7.3 billion) RG Football Academy will generically operate like the Barcelona youth academy, La Masia, which holds more than 300 players and has been praised since 2002 as one of the best.

La Masia is significant in the Catalan giants’ European success as well as the Spanish national team’s performances in the 2010 Fifa World Cup and also the 2008 and 2012 Euro Cups.

It will be launched in December in Kigali, said former Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Liverpool player Luis Garcia during his recent visit to Rwanda. The FC Barcelona ambassador told Rwanda Today that Barca legends will launch the academy with a charity match against a Rwanda Select XI team on December 6.

“The RG Sports Academy will help in identifying and training the next generation of Rwandan players equipped with the philosophy of La Masia, which has nurtured the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi in recent years,” said Garcia.

Made history

In 2010, La Masia became the first youth academy to have trained all three finalists for the Ballon d’Or in the same year — Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernández.

“The only way to develop football in Rwanda and Africa at large is for people in the football sector to start working like we do in Spain on tactical, physical, psychological concepts,” the legend added.

Accompanying Garcia were Canary Islands-born Rayco Garcia Dauta, a former player with Real Madrid Castilla, the reserve team of Barca’s main Spanish rivals, who is the CEO of the RG Football Academy, as well as legends match coordinator Ambrose Tashobya. Rayco said the Rwandan academy will be run concurrently with a similar one in Uganda.

Activities at the RG Sports Academy kick off next month with the training of local coaches by Barcelona coaches.

The training will be concluded by Johan Cruyff, a former Dutch professional player and manager who mostly recently managed the Catalonia football team.

Cruyff is one of the most famous exponents of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels and is widely regarded as among the greatest players ever. He led the Netherlands to the 1974 Fifa World Cup final and won the Golden Ball as player of the tournament.