Five names to watch at Qatar 2022: The promises that are already coming to fruition and promise to shine at the World Cup

There is less and less to do until the beginning of the The Qatar World Cup, the biggest sporting event of the year . On Sunday 20, the curtain rises the first World Cup in Arab territory, it will (surely) be the last dance of many consecrated people. The planetary event will not only have the added benefit of seeing the legends farewell, but also It will also be an opportunity to pay particular attention to those who promise to be the stars of the future.

The new era of football is on the way and in Qatar there will be a series of young people who will have the poster of promises, even if at full speed they are consolidating, despite the fact that they are not more than 22 years old . Here, review of a quintet of players who will meet in the middle of the desert.

Two days after Spain’s debut (against Costa Rica), Pedro González López, better known as Pedri , will be 20 years old. The young midfielder exploded in Barcelona, ​​to the point of earning a starting place in Luis Enrique’s team. Originally from Tegueste, Tenerife, In 2018, he had a trial at Real Madrid, but his incorporation did not take place. Later, he ended up at Unión Deportiva Las Palmas.

The leap is made in 2019, when he signs with Barcelona. Although he does not leave the kidney, his game has the DNA that Catalonia loves. A very technical midfielder, who circulated in the Sub 17 and Sub 21 of Spain, before being called up for the first time in adults, in 2021. He won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics and immediately joined the team that competed for the European Championship. Luis Enrique wanted to have it.

“Would you have played for Real Madrid? I think so. My ambition was to make my way as a professional footballer and it would have been very difficult to refuse the offer of one of the greatest in history. That train passed and two years later I ended up signing for my dream team. That of my family and that of my first football idol, Andrés Iniesta,” he said in an interview with ICON magazine. In the same case, he said he believed Spain could do well in Qatar: “We have a young and very competitive team. Already in the European Championship, we played a great match in the semi-finals against Italy, and I’m sure that if we hadn’t lost on penalties, we would have won the final”.

According to Transfermarkt, Pedri’s market value is no less than €100m.

“One of my biggest dreams growing up was to play in a World Cup, I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to do so.” This was posted by the young Borussia Dortmund midfielder once England’s roster for Qatar 2022 was known. Bellingham, one of the jewels of British football, is the only footballer summoned by Gareth Southgate who does not play in the Premier League.

The 2003 midfielder was born in Stourbridge and at the age of eight joined the youth team of Birmingham City, a club recently acquired by former Argentina striker Maxi López. At 16, he made the pre-season with the honor group. At that age, in 2019, he would make his professional debut. He was already linked with several top clubs, until Mid-2020, he signed with Dortmund for 25 million euros. Two years later, its market value is four times higher. Transfermarkt values ​​him at 100 million European currency.

He was international with England in Sub 16 and Sub 17, until reaching the senior team, in which he made his debut on November 12, 2020, in a friendly match against Ireland. At 17 years and 137 days, Bellingham became the third youngest player to feature in the Three Lions senior squad. Last year, he was part of the European vice-champion team.

Despite the fact that he has a contract with the Germans until 2025, there aren’t a few teams that are interested in signing him. At least there are two giants following in his footsteps, according to the newspapers of the Old Continent: Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Another emerging star is appreciated by Germany, who have in Jamal Musiala an attacking midfielder not only for the present, but also for the future. He was born in Stuttgart to an Anglo-Nigerian father and a German mother, and spent much of his childhood in England, where he and his family moved when he was seven years old.

He spent four months at Southampton Academy before being recruited by Chelsea, where he received a training scholarship. His progress was so fast He made his Blues Sub 18 debut at the age of 15 years, two months and 13 days. In July 2019, Musiala joined Bayern Munich, aged just 16. He started in Sub 17, then promoted to Sub 19, until his opportunity arose in the first team, with which he made his debut on June 20, 2020 for the Bundesliga, against Freiburg. He became the Bavarian side’s youngest debutant in the league, aged 17 years and 115 days.

As is often the case in these times of multicultural society, the footballer had the possibility of choosing between several selections. In the youth teams, he evolved between England and Germany. Finally, in 2021, he opted for the German team. He has already participated in the last European Championship, where he took a new step. Making his debut in the duel against Hungary, he became the youngest German to play in a Euro or a World Cup (18 years and 117 days).

Pablo Martín Páez Gavira, better known as Gavi, is one of Luis Enrique’s “gifts”. One of the 26 called up by Spain for the World Cup, before the start of the tournament, he has a milestone. He became the youngest player called up by a coach for a World Cup, at 18. He surpassed the mark of Cesc Fábregas, who was in Germany in 2006 with 19. He won a place in final square of the last Nations League and did not come out of it: 12 games, including nine as a starter.

In 2015, at the age of 11, he was signed by Barcelona. In 2020, he signs his first contract as a professional and moves from the cadet team to the youth team. Due to his game, he has been compared to Xavi Hernández, his current coach. A little over a year ago (in August 2021), he made his first division debut, against Getafe. However, in 2022, it exploded, beyond its precocity. In September, he renewed his link with the culé store until June 2026 with a sidereal termination clause: 1,000 million euros. Referring to his market value, Transfermarkt values ​​him at 90 million EU currency.

In addition, this year he won the Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d’Or gala, recognition of the best under-21 player of the season. , and the Golden Boy Award, given by the Italian newspaper Tuttosport, to the best European under 21. Qatar 2022 may be your ultimate platform.

Brazil has the enormous virtue of bringing out players ad infinitum. One of his examples is Rodrygo Silva de Goes, category 2001, an increasingly active striker in the Real Madrid shirt. In the last meringue duels, he was the improvised 9 in the absence of Karim Benzema.

He has something in common with Neymar, the star of the Brazilian team: both were born at Santos’ youth academy. Rodrygo joined Peixe’s youth team in 2011, when he was 10 years old. The coach who first called him up to train with the adult team was Dorival Júnior, who recently won the Copa Libertadores with Flamengo. In July 2017, he signed his first professional contract and a year later the deal was finalized for his move to Real Madrid. He is the first player born in the 21st century to score a goal for the merengues.

For the Scratch he went through the Sub 17, the Sub 20 and the Olympic, before reaching the absolute combined. He is on Tite 26’s payroll for Qatar. “Yes, I imagine (winning the World Cup), I can’t wait to be there. Defending the national team has always been my biggest dream and I hope we will have a great World Cup,” he told DIRECTV Sports after the duel against Cadiz on Thursday, the last before the break. World Cup.

There are more young people who can get people talking at the World Cup. Frenchman Eduardo Camavinga (20), from Real Madrid; the English Bukayo Saka (21 years old), from Arsenal or the Ecuadorian Moises Caicedo (21 years old), from Brighton, are other interesting names.