Nico Paz, from La Fábrica to the Argentine National Team at 17 years old

Save a name: Nico Peace. Scaloni did it a long time ago and is serious about it. The absolute Argentine coach offered this morning an extensive 44 player prelist for the last two official matches before Qatar 2022 (against Venezuelaalready deleted, and Ecuadorthat life can be played; Argentina is already mathematically classified). Perhaps that pretext of a certain relaxation has made Scaloni open the door to new talents, because in his list, along with undisputed pillars such as Messi, Dybala, Di María… Diamonds in the rough appear, such as Nico Paz. If he reached the final list of 23 players and played a minute, he could never do it with Spain.

Whom? He came to the Real Madrid youth academy in 2017 from Tenerife, club from his homeland. Well, despite his Argentine blood, was born in Spain and has dual nationality. In his first steps he tried to imitate his father playing center back, but quickly discovered that his talent was higher. That made him make the leap to being a center forward, until his coaches discovered that his brilliance shone in the overflows and last passes. And he definitely discovered himself as a steering wheel exceptional.

Having been a schemer globetrotter, he has developed a remarkable versatility. Such is the case, that today he spends many minutes glued to the band, acting pure extremeeither right-handed or left-handed. He knows how to play both natural and changed leg. Under the command of Fran Beltrán, coach of Juvenil B, the game is played with a 4-2-3-1 scheme, in which Nico occupies the wing positions. This season he is combining minutes with Juvenil B, Juvenil A and even Castilla. Growing step by step; very quietly. Although Scalonitoday, decided to give it a dizzying push.

Debut with Castilla

With only 17 years It already stands out in the inferiors of La Fábrica. So much so that he has made his debut with Raúl’s Castilla. First he did it in a friendly against Cultural Leonesa this summer and, already in an official match, on January 8, in the victory against Andorra, category leader (3-1). Nico came out in the 82nd minute to take over from Morante. His family, mostly based in Tenerife, was in the Di Stéfano stands watching his first minutes in the First RFEF. Since then he has participated in two more games: Alcoyano and Nàstic, both coming off the bench. He has not yet had the opportunity to be a starter with the subsidiary.

To demonstrate its enormous quality. He is a very skillful footballer in creating, of which the facility to quickly outline towards the rival goal and leave rivals behind with an outstanding first control stand out. He also has a gift for the goal: On January 10, just two days after making his Castilla debut, he scored his first goal for Juvenil A after just… 3 minutes! From the generation of 2004, he is physically gaining a lot of muscle and cardio, something essential in football today. He is 1.76 meters tall and will come of age in September.

The Madridaware of his enormous potential, made him professional contract recently, raising his bet on the canary, from which much is expected in the medium term. This season he has played nine games with Juvenil B in which he has scored seven goals, many from outside the area, gleaming a cannon that from the inside is reminiscent of Marco Asensio’s. With the first madridista youth he has played six games this season.

Who is Pablo Paz, his father?

Central with 82 games and five goals in First. Pablo Paz made his debut in Spain after arriving at the Tenerife, in 1997, coming from Banfield. He also went through others such as Valladolid, Lugo, Motril or Cerro de Reyes, where he retired in 2009. He was international with Argentina, playing 25 official matches. Daniel Passarella made him jump and ended up being a silver medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. They lost the final against Nigeria, who came from the surprise after eliminating Brazil, the favorite, in the semifinals. That Argentina had soccer players like Simeone, Zanetti, Crespo or Marcelo Gallardo. Pablo Paz debuted with the senior team when he was 23 years old. His son, Nico, is close to doing it at 17. At the moment, it is already on a pre-list.