St. Petersburg: Spain is on the charge at a major soccer tournament with a creative and technically gifted Barcelona player calling the shots from central midfield.
Sound familiar?
Only 18 and already seemingly indispensable for the national team, Pedri Gonz lez has been given the keys to a midfield that was once the domain of two modern-day greats in Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.
The comparisons are inevitable and maybe justified and will only become more widespread if Pedri leads Spain to the European Championship title in the coming days, just as Xavi and Iniesta did in 2008 and 2012 amid a golden era for the country. Certainly Switzerland needs to be on top of Spanish soccer's new midfield conductor in the first quarterfinal match at Euro 2020 in St. Petersburg on Friday.
That's easier said than done. Pedri, who plays on the left side of Spain's ball-hogging central-midfield three, is playing in his first major tournament he only made his senior international debut in March and is tied for first place for most chances created (10) and has more passes in the opposition half (233) than any other player.
The youngest Spaniard to play at a European Championship, Pedri also became the youngest ever player in a knockout-stage game at the tournament at 18 years, 215 days against Croatia in the round of 16. Perhaps most impressively, he is one of only two outfield players in Spain's squad to have played every minute of their team's games at Euro 2020.