Victor Vazquez and Juanjo Clausi – do these names ring a bell? Both were better than Leo Messi. At free-kicks. When in the La Masia academy.
"Victor Vazquez, who was amazing, and the left-footed Juanjo Clausi used to take them [free-kicks]. Messi almost never," former La Masia player Roger Giribet told Goal.
If anything, Vazquez was given a chance and he even scored for Barca's first team in 2010 before being sold to Club Brugge.
His nomadic career led him to Mexico (Cruz Azul), Canada (Toronto FC), Qatar (Umm Salal) and now Belgium (KAS Eupen). Now, aged 34, he's a free agent though.
Clausi though has never made it at the top level. He left Barca's reserves in 2006 and since then he's changed 15 clubs in Spanish lower leagues. He currently plays for Paterna CF, the third tier of Spain's footballing pyramid.
