The UEFA website has officially named Barcelona and Spain midfielder Pedri as the Euro 2020 Young Player of the Tournament. Pedri received widespread appreciation for his majestic performances which helped Spain to qualify for the semi-final in the Euro 2020. However, the youngster failed to take his team to the finals as Spain lost to Italy in the penalties. But, the whole world praised the effort that Pedri had shown in the whole tournament and especially against Italy.
Pedri, before joining the Spanish team for the Euros, had only four appearances for La Roja. But Luis Enrique saw the potential that Pedri carried and went to play him in all the six matches of the tournament. While the Spanish coach also compared the youngster with the midfield legend Andres Iniesta. Luis Enrique said:
“What Pedri has done in this tournament, at 18, no one has done. Not even Andrés Iniesta did that; it’s incredible, unique.”
The Barcelona youngster played 629 minutes out of Spain’s 630 minutes in this tournament. The one minute that Pedri missed was against Switzerland, as he was substituted before the penalty shoot-out. The young midfielder bossed the midfield with his pass accuracy of 92.3%, as he completed 429 passes out of the 465 passes. While the youngster also covered the third most distance in the tournament with 76.1km (12.7km per game on average).
Following this impressive performance and stats, UEFA’s technical observer named him the Young Player of the Tournament. Only players born on or after 1st January 1998 are eligible for the award. While UEFA also takes into consideration the individual and collective performances, as well as the players’ attitudes on the pitch. Pedri has shown the footballing world what he is capable of doing if he is given the right opportunity.
