Pedri overrides his father’s veto and takes on the role of Iniesta again

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Pedri’s father, Fernando, a former goalkeeper who made it to the Spanish third division, tried hard. In the player’s childhood, he vetoed that his son cut his hair like that of the idol, Andrés Iniesta, to keep the boy’s comparisons with the Spanish star away. But as soon as the young man put on the Barcelona shirt, he had no choice.

“We’re talking about pure talent, he’s the best in the world,” said Xavi Hernández, Iniesta’s historical partner and coach of the Catalan team. Luis Enrique, Spain’s coach, called him “incredible, simply unique”. And Julen Lopetegui, predecessor of the current coach of the national team, described him as “special, of those who only appear once in a while.”

At 19, Pedri tries to dodge such expectations. He just wants to know about playing football. “For me to have fun, which is the best thing you can do,” he says.

The problem is that he has so much fun on the pitch that he couldn’t escape the comparison with his idol. Xavi himself completed his comment by saying that the young man reminded him of Iniesta, “the best I’ve ever seen”. Few would have the ownership of the Barça coach to say that.

But Pedri’s fame is not just the result of adjectives from those who know him. On the field, he has already shown that he can be the big star of the Spanish team at the World Cup in Qatar.

For the Catalan team, he accumulates memorable performances despite the oscillations of the team, which again was eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League this season, as it happened in the previous round.

While Barcelona is going through a moment of transition since Messi’s departure in August 2021, the midfielder who came from Las Palmas enjoys a meteoric rise.

In six months wearing the Barça shirt, he made it to the Spanish national team. After debuting in March in the Qualifiers, he was also called up to Euro 2020, held in 2021 because of the pandemic.

“Everything happens very fast. Two seasons ago I played for Las Palmas, now for the national team and for Barça. It’s just enjoying what’s happening to me little by little. athlete after the European teams competition.

In the tournament, he was one of the main responsible for taking Fury to the semifinals, passing through the group that had Sweden, Slovakia and Poland, in addition to beating Croatia and Switzerland in the round of 16 and in the quarterfinals, respectively.

The campaign only bumped into the semifinals, against Italy. In the match, Pedri completed 65 of the 67 passes he attempted, a third more than any player in Italy. It was also the safety ball in the midfield, with a balance between individual plays and good tables.

In normal time, however, there was a tie by 1 to 1. Chiesa opened the scoring for the Italians and Morata was the one who left everything equal. The equality was maintained during extra time and, on penalties, Italy won 4-2 – Dani Olmo and Morata wasted their kicks. Pedri didn’t get his chance to kick.

Even with the elimination of Spain, the main vehicles in Europe decided to highlight a positive aspect in the fall: the midfielder’s performances.

The British newspaper The Guardian, for example, wrote that “Spain’s pain in the Euro was assuaged by the emergence of Pedri as Iniesta’s heir”.

Although he left the competition without scoring a goal, not even providing an assist, his role as midfield maestro has been recognized even by UEFA. The entity elected him the best young player in the competition —a prize awarded at the time to athletes born after January 1, 1998—, in addition to including him in the tournament’s ideal selection, being the only Spaniard present.

Euro top scorers with five goals, the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and the Czech Patrick Schick were left out of the selection designed by UEFA.

At the end of the year, his talent would be recognized again, this time by the magazine “France Football”, which awarded him as the best Under-21 player in the world in 2021.

“Anyone who knows anything about football knows that no one has ever seen this from anyone at 18, not even Sir Andrés Iniesta. Pedri is incredible, simply unique,” said Luis Henrique.

It is not for nothing, therefore, that the Spaniards are anxious and hopeful with Pedri’s participation in the World Cup. And they hope he repeats his idol, Iniesta, who was instrumental in Fúria winning its only world title, in 2010, in South Africa.

This is the ninth in a series of ten texts about players who can surprise at the 2022 World Cup. They are published on Tuesdays.

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