In 20 years from now, when Pedri has retired with several silver cutlery, we will probably identify July 6, 2021 as his arrival as a superstar on the global stage.
When the tears have dried, the player himself should be able to look back on his performance in Spain’s Euro 2020 semi-final to Italy on penalties also with pride.
Against Azzurri on Tuesday night, Pedri – among world-class companies – was the most creative midfielder on the pitch.
He’s just old enough to visit Popworld, but all the good that his side did before Alvaro Morata’s short and sudden transformation into a demigod involved the kid to a great extent. From the beginning, he found space between the lines.
During the first 20 minutes, his trampling ground was the left half and it was from here that he cut up Italy’s defense for the first time. Taking a pass from Sergio Busquets in the half-swing – which the man he has been compared to, Andres Iniesta, did so many times in previous tournaments – Pedri fizzled a ball through to Mikel Oyarzabal.
Pedri was worried at halftime but he played extremely well / Facundo Arrizabalaga – Pool / Getty Images
Tragically, the pass did not get the deserved finish, with Oyarzabal failing to take the ball in his step.
But do not worry. Pedri may only be 18 and he may have played close enough every minute of his side’s tournament so far, but he continued to bubble with gratifying creativity for the rest of the first half.
When things went well, he appeared more often in the right half-space. Once he had made himself comfortable, he came to work. Once again he fired a ball through the lines to Oyarzabal in the box which then moved it away for Dani Olmo, who again wasted the chance.
When the half-time signal was blown, social media was flooded with rave reviews of Pedri’s incredible performance. A quick look at his statistics made it easy to see why.
The diminutive midfielder had not placed a single pass during the entire 45-minute period and never looked to be removed. The most handsome players glide around the pitch and that was exactly what Pedri did at Wembley. His feet barely seemed to touch the floor and he rolled tackle after tackle and made one-touch pass after one-touch pass.
During the first 90 minutes, Pedri completed 100% of his workouts! ?
Is there a reason he is a member of ??? 21? pic.twitter.com/2Faea3qZb0
– 90min (@ 90min_Football) July 6, 2021
His performance in the first half is even more impressive when you consider that the game also featured some of the best midfielders of his generation in Marco Verratti and Sergio Busquets. Yet, despite this brilliant company, it was a little teenager who would not see strange sports braces on his teeth the one who influenced things in the last third.
Pedri may not have reached the creative heights in his first half after the break but he never failed to look completely relaxed in possession. As the game progressed, his more senior teammates were brought in for new legs. But not Pedri.
No, he remained Luis Enrique’s talisman until the point where Spain left the competition on penalties and missed just two of his 67 passes during his 120 minutes on the pitch.
His ridiculous screen covered a hugely impressive Euro 2020. Although there was plenty of hype around him before the competition started – we did not choose him for the Our 21 series for nothing – it is now impossible with another suitable interest in European football to ignore his unimaginably high potential.
The 2020s will be about Pedri – and we can not wait for that.
