After his performance against Italy in the Nations League semifinal, Gavi got an expected reaction from manager Luis Enrique.
Luis Enrique was the one brave enough to call Gavi up for the Spain National Team to everyone’s dismay. The overwhelming majority of the Spanish press was completely against the decision to call a 17-year-old who had only played minutes in four official matches. But as we’ve said before, the Spain boss knows a lot more about football than the entire sports press from his country. He’s been checking out talents from La Masia since he was still a player.
Today’s decision wasn’t a rash one, he absolutely knew the type of player he was calling and decided to play him for 85 minutes today. Gavi responded as players with his talent overload tend to respond. He played loose and comfortable in midfield while dominating the game for extended periods of time. Today’s performance will grant Gavi the confidence he needed in order to start getting more minutes from his manager at his club. It’s time to talk about what the avid FC Barcelona follower has been trying to tell the rest of the world for months.
Gavi can become a regular with his club and country.
Simply by looking at his performance against Italy this evening, we can already tell the level of influence Gavi has in the game. Throughout the entire 85 minutes he was on the pitch, this kid was working hard on every corner of the pitch. There is a curious image of him getting the best out of Marco Verratti himself, with the Italian struggling to catch him. At the end of the 96 minutes played, everybody knew that Gavi ran riot at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on the day of his debut with the senior national team.
It’s not strange to say that we all witnessed history this evening. Remember the name as Luis Enrique speaks about the young star that was born today: Pablo Martin Paez Gaviria. Here’s is what the gaffer said about him after the match via the Spain National Team’s official Twitter account: “Gavi is an unusual case. He’s playing as if he’s in a schoolyard or in the backyard of his house. He’s the present & future of the National Team.”
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