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Bojan, Canales suggest La Liga no longer a teenage wasteland
Lionel Messi hogged most of the headlines thanks to his wonderful hat-trick at Tenerife, but it was the performances of a pair of teenagers who had pundits, coaches and team mates purring following the weekend’s La Liga action.
Barcelona’s Spanish forward Bojan Krkic has been around for a while –- he made his first-team debut in a friendly in Egypt in 2007 -– but all three of Messi’s goals came from passes supplied by the 19-year-old and coach Pep Guardiola was effusive in his praise.
“He constantly demonstrates his quality, but the problem is his coach doesn’t let him play very much,” Guardiola joked at a news conference.
“He didn’t manage to score (against Tenerife) but he has to see that the team doesn’t just survive on goals but on assists too.”
Racing Santander midfielder Sergio Canales is a newer phenomenon.
The 18-year-old had already earned himself the nickname “Peter Pan” with some polished performances that belied his relative youth.
But two outstanding goals in a 2-1 win at Sevilla on Saturday, in which he made experienced goalkeeper Andres Palop look rather foolish, have put him firmly in the spotlight as one of La Liga’s hottest young talents.
I hope Canales stays a little longer at Racing to develop as a player, amongst the people who have raised him to this level so far.
A new contract giving Racing the chance to earn a decent pay day when he goes, which he inevitably will, is the least he can do for his hometown club.
The way he took those two goals against Sevilla suggest he has a great future in front of him.