In an event that’s hardly newsworthy, Barcelona’s academy is great. They’re so great that they’ve just won the Junior Soccer World Challenge. What’s newsworthy about this match isn't the talent of Barca's U12 team, it's the reaction from their kids towards their extremely distraught opponents.
You can tell what it meant to the Japanese youth side Omiya Ardija Junior to play against Barcelona. They obviously watch a lot of the Barcelona senior side, and the chance to play and defeat their U12s was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the boys.
Unfortunately, when you come up against Barcelona, you typically lose. Barca’s U12s won 1-0 in Kita, Japan and it clearly hurt the home side. But, rather than sprinting off to celebrate their victory or to go grab Capri Suns and Snack Packs, the Barca U12s comforted every member of the Omiya team. Sure, a language barrier almost certainly existed, but the Barca team commiserated with them nonetheless.
Love this! Barcelona U12's consoling their opponents after winning a tournament in Japan. True sportsmanship pic.twitter.com/cNIFHmrol8
— BigSport (@BigSportGB) August 29, 2016
It’s a truly beautiful moment that captures everything that’s right with sport. Football is an emotional game — knockout and tournament football especially so. Finals always need to have a winner and a loser, and it’s comforting to see Barcelona’s players forgo the ecstasy of winning in favor of sportsmanship and solidarity.
(H/T: MailOnline)
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