At the end of the FC Barcelona’s first game of the US Tour against Inter Miami, there was a lovely moment that happened during the typical post-match exchanging of shirts. On each team, there was a player that had started out in the football world as a pupil at one of Barça’s many Barça Academies. For Bará, there was Eric García, and for the home side, there was Bryce Duke.

Eric García is the fifth former pupil of Barça Escola Barcelona to have gone all the way up to the senior side. He was at the school in the 2008/09 season, the year before he was accepted into La Masia as un U10B player.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Bryce Duke joined the Barça Residency Academy USA, Casa Grande (Arizona) in 2019. A year later he was snapped up by pro club Los Angeles FC. He has been at Inter Miami since January of this year.