“Has anyone noticed in the Euro what an 18-year-old boy named Pedri has done?”, a rhetorical question thrown at journalists, to which Lucho launched his own response. “Not even Don Andrés Iniesta has done it”. Some daring statements to reward the work and performance of the 26 of Spain in this edition of the Eurocup, comparing him with the magician of Fuentealbilla. Something that may be real, due to the records that Pedri is breaking in world football.
Iniesta's secondary role
Andrés Iniesta's first call to contest an official championship was at the 2006 World Cup, with 22 years under his belt. In this event, the manchego only played the 90 minutes of the second group stage match against Saudi Arabia (0-1). That was his only staging, of the four games that Spain played on German soil, up to the round of 16. With a secondary role, ahead he had players like Xavi Hernández, Xabi Alonso or Marcos Senna, among others. Instead, Pedri has played in his first official date, a total of 629 minutes, consolidating itself in the machine room of our Selection. In a semifinal against a rival like Italy, on a stage like Wembley, of the 56 passes he gave, he did not miss a single one in the regulatory 90 minutes.
Something similar at Barça
In the club culé the launch to the elite of the Canarian player was forged with only 17 years, playing a total of 52 official matches in the same season, of which 38 have started. Being the player most used by Ronald Koeman. Your reference, Iniesta debuted in an official match at age 18, against Bruges in the Champions League. In that 2002-2003 season, Louis Van Gaal gave him entry nine times and only three starts, a fifth of what Pedri has enjoyed with the culé club in his first season.
It also surpasses other Spanish legends
Iker Casillas, with 167 caps, had his first opportunity to defend the colors of Spain in official competition with 21 years, in the 2002 World Cup, replacing the injured Cañizares. Xavi Hernández, 22 years old, also debuted at the World Cup in Korea and Japan and only played three games, of which one was a starter. Raul Gonzalez debuted with 20 years in the 1998 World Cup, he participated in two games as a starter and scored a goal and the gourd Villa, which did not debut until 24 years, in the 2006 World Cup, in which he started in three games and scored three goals. All this suggests that a new star has been born in Spain, called Pedri González.