The Kenyan footballing minnows who beat Barcelona

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By Briana Duggan and Chris Giles, CNN



Updated 1618 GMT (0018 HKT) January 25, 2018

Photos: Africa's footballing legends
The future of Kenyan football – East Africa has long underperformed West Africa in terms of the number of players competing at the highest level in European leagues. However, the Acakoro Football Academy in Nairobi has shown its skill and beaten top youth teams like Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. This gallery pictures some of the legends of African football that have rocked the world stage before them.
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Photos: Africa's footballing legends
Didier Drogba – Former Chelsea star who also plays for the Ivory Coast national team, Drogba is the country's all time top scorer and has twice been named African Footballer of the Year.
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Photos: Africa's footballing legends
George Weah – The newly elected president of Liberia, George Weah, is also one of Africa's most legendary football players. In 1995 he was the first African player to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award. He played as a striker and had spells at Chelsea and Manchester City among other clubs.
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Photos: Africa's footballing legends
Samuel Eto'o – Arguably Africa's most accomplished player, Eto'o played for Cameroon and most notably, Barcelona. He's scored in two Champions League finals and has played in four World Cups.
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Photos: Africa's footballing legends
Yaya Toure – A talisman of Premier League side Manchester City, Toure is a central midfielder who plays for the Ivory Coast national side. He's also played for Barcelona and Monaco.
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Photos: Africa's footballing legends
Michael Essien – A Ghanaian football player, Essien was signed for Chelsea in 2005 and at the time was the most expensive African player in history. He has represented Ghana at two World Cups and plays in midfield.
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Photos: Africa's footballing legends
Nwankwo Kanu – Now retired Nigerian striker Kanu played most notably for Arsenal and Inter Milan. He was a member of the "Invincibles," the Arsenal side that went unbeaten in the Premier League 2003-2004 season.
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Photos: Africa's footballing legends
Jay-Jay Okocha – A magician on the pitch and known for his dribbling skills, Okocha is a Nigerian player who played mostly at Paris Saint-Germain and English side Bolton Wanderers. He is regarded as one of the best ever Nigerian players.
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Photos: Africa's footballing legends
Patrick M'Boma – Once the all-time top scorer for the Cameroonian national team, Mboma is a retired striker who was named African Footballer of the Year in 2000.
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Photos: Africa's footballing legends
The future of Kenyan football – East Africa has long underperformed West Africa in terms of the number of players competing at the highest level in European leagues. However, the Acakoro Football Academy in Nairobi has shown its skill and beaten top youth teams like Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. This gallery pictures some of the legends of African football that have rocked the world stage before them.
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Story highlights

• Kenya's top football academy beats European sides
• Could East Africa be a future spot for talent?

(CNN)European football academies have long been considered a global conveyor belt for talented young footballers aspiring to break into the lucrative world of professional football.

But a training school in Nairobi has shown its prowess on the world stage, beating top European youth teams like Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, presenting Kenya as a hotspot for future talent.
Acakoro Football Academy, located on the outskirts of Nairobi, has modest training grounds. They have a single pitch which often fills with large puddles during Kenya's long rainy season. The grass is long, and the club's grounds are surrounded by tin-roofed informal housing.
The academy draws its players from the local area, many of whom come from single parent or HIV positive families that often live in poverty. Alongside the pitch is Dandora, Nairobi's largest dumpsite, where before Acakoro, several of the team's children used to work scouring the hills of trash for food or recyclables to sell.
"Every kid in Korogocho faces a challenge everyday," Mohamed Rashid, Acakoro's coach, tells CNN.
That being said, this is one of the country's only professional football academies, and a chance for young, aspiring Kenyans to nurture their skills, and have a shot at the big time. And they have proven themselves on the world's stage.
The future of football

It's little wonder that when Acakoro got the chance to compete in Europe it represented a huge opportunity to showcase their talent in the continent which still dominates the footballing landscape.
Every year the team compete in the Donauauen Cup, one of the toughest youth championships in Europe.
Indomitable sides like Barcelona and Atletico Madrid were swept under the carpet by Acakoro, who won the cup last year -- and the year before that too.
It's a remarkable achievement for a group of kids from Kenya who don't have the sort of sport scientists, nutritionists and technology seen in European youth programs.
"When we finished that match everyone was so happy, was so surprised to see that we are the Acakoro Football Academy, we are from Africa and we have gone in Europe and we have managed to win the cup," says Teddy, one of the stars of the team.
Football's sleeping giant[/paste:font]

newly elected president of Liberia.
By comparison, East African players and national teams have underperformed.
Strong and structured youth academies, like Acakoro, will part of the solution. So will funding and improving Kenya's domestic league.
Koeglberger is undoubtedly positive, and given his team's performance he has good reason to be. "I think that Kenya is really a sleeping giant in football because there is so much talent."

Source:The Kenyan footballing minnows who beat Barcelona - CNN