Pedri, Spain's Youngest Player To Compete In The European Cup And Refuses To Be Compared To Iniesta

JAKARTA - The Spanish National Team managed to qualify for the round of 16 after beating Slovakia 5-0 in the Group E match at La Cartuja Stadium, Seville, Spain, Wednesday, June 23 local time (Thursday WIB). Spain played very superior, and Pedri Gonzalez Lopez, an 18-year-old teenager was in the spotlight in this match.

Pedri coach Luis Enrique fielded for 90 minutes. And this is not the first time Pedri has been fully deployed, because in the previous two matches the young Barcelona midfielder has always played 90 minutes without being replaced.

Pedri managed to "straddle" big names like Koke and Thiago Alcantara. Enrique's full trust was fully paid by Pedri with satisfactory statistics in the match against Slovakia.

Launching Whoscored, the former Las Palmas midfielder got a rating of 7.3. He made 83 percent of successful passes, and contributed greatly in every attack La Furia Roja that led to a barrage of five goals against Martin Dubravka.

And just so you know, Pedri is Spain's youngest player in the European Cup. The young man born November 25, 2002, broke the record previously held by Miguel Tendillo at Euro 1980.

Touted as The Next Iniesta

Pedri made a surprise when he was bought by Barcelona at the start of the 2020-21 season. The Blaugrana redeemed the player with a dowry of 5 million euros from Las Palmas.

He was 17 years old at the time. But who would have thought, during the 2020-21 season Pedri managed to play a total of 50 matches for Barcelona with 4 goals and 5 assists.

Incredible indeed. Suddenly he was compared with Barcelona legend, Andres Iniesta. Positionally, the two do have something in common, namely an attacking midfielder who has advantages in regulating the rhythm of the game and has accurate passing.

However, Pedri does not want to be compared to Iniesta. Pedri really idolizes Iniesta, but he just wants to be himself.

"I have to be Pedri. It's an honor to be compared to Andres Iniesta," said Pedri shortly before making his debut for the Spanish national team in March 2021.

Luis Enrique has also commented on the frequent comparisons between Pedri and Iniesta. The former Barcelona coach said it was inevitable that the two were often compared given their similarities in terms of position on the pitch and style of play.

Both, continued Enrique, also represent the same club and national team. However, La Furia Roja's boss claims that such comparisons would be of no use to Pedri.

"Pedri and Iniesta are two different players. Pedri must be allowed to continue to make mistakes and fix things," Enrique told Mundo Deportivo.

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Pedri still has a long way to go. His career could continue for several more years.

Iniesta himself is currently still actively playing. The 37-year-old man still plays at Vissel Kobe, the Japanese club he has played for since 2018.

And if you really want to "force" Pedri to be equal to Iniesta, at least the teenager must be consistent at Barcelona for decades and make hundreds of caps for the Spanish national team as El Illusionista has done.