{"id":1227780,"date":"2021-10-07T12:04:33","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T11:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1227780"},"modified":"2022-11-24T20:45:04","modified_gmt":"2022-11-24T20:45:04","slug":"luis-enrique-marco-verratti-gavi-idol","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/luis-enrique-marco-verratti-gavi-idol\/","title":{"rendered":"Luis Enrique: Marco Verratti is Gavi’s idol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barcelona midfielder Gavi became Spain\u2019s youngest-ever international after making his debut against Italy on Wednesday night, and he got to play against his “idol” Marco Verratti, according to Luis Enrique.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 17-year-old was named in the starting XI to face the Euro 2020 winners — just his fourth professional start in his nascent career — in the Nations League semi-final, and by doing so he made La Roja <\/i>history as the nation ran out 2-1 victors.<\/span><\/p>\n

By edging 10-man Italy, Enrique’s side subsequently ended Italy’s 37-game unbeaten run and became the first nation this century to beat Gli Azzurri\u00a0<\/i>in a competitive home game. Their last such defeat came in September 1999, before six of Spain’s current squad were even born.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Gavi, for his part, formed an impressive midfield relationship with Koke and Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets, as a Ferran Torres brace ensured Spain reached the final, with Leonardo Bonucci seeing red, and Lorenzo Pellegrini offering a late consolation goal.<\/p>\n

The teenage sensation finished the contest having had more touches (68) than Jorginho (34) and Verratti (31) combined, a stat that is likely to leave Gavi starstruck as he was actually playing against his “idol” in the shape of the PSG midfielder.<\/span><\/p>\n

“See how good the kids are in Spain,” Enrique told RAI Sport<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It is not normal to see a player with this character, this confidence on his debut. He will be the future of the Spain squad and I think the present too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

READ MORE:<\/span> \u201cA legend was born tonight\u201d \u2013 Player ratings as Spain snap Italy\u2019s unbeaten run and knock them out of the Nations League<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

“Verratti is his idol! I told him, today you press Verratti from the first moment to the last. He loved it.”<\/p>\n

On Gavi’s call-up before the game, the former Barcelona manager said: “I have known Gavi for many years, he is one of the models of the Barca youth academy.<\/p>\n

“I have no doubt about the performance he will give.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s a pure midfielder, very much in the Barca style. He brings interesting things with the ball and without the ball.”<\/p>\n

Despite ending Italy’s world-record 37-game unbeaten streak, Enrique was quick to downplay to magnitude of the achievement, believing the greater “satisfaction” for him as a manager comes from reaching the final.<\/p>\n

He added: “The satisfaction is that we are in the final, not that we ended this run, because Italy deserved that world record and they continue to play football at a very high level.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barcelona midfielder Gavi became Spain\u2019s youngest-ever international after making his debut against Italy on Wednesday night, and he got to play against his “idol” Marco Verratti, according to Luis Enrique. The 17-year-old was named in the starting XI to face the Euro 2020 winners — just his fourth professional start in his nascent career —…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":1227781,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Barcelona midfielder Gavi became Spain\u2019s youngest-ever international after making his debut against Italy on Wednesday night.","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"news-category":[],"class_list":["post-1227780","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"external_featured_image_url":"","hide_featured_image_pattern":false},"yoast_head":"\nLuis Enrique: Marco Verratti is Gavi's idol | Squawka | EN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Barcelona midfielder Gavi became Spain\u2019s youngest-ever international after making his debut against Italy on Wednesday night.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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