21-year-old Enzo Fernandez: the big surprise of Argentina, the midfield genius of the giants.

When Argentine assists king Roselso was injured, when the team lost 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in the first round, the desperate Biancocelesti couldn’t find a way forward for a while. It was Messi’s wonderful long-range goal that led the team out of the quagmire.
But will anyone remember that it was a 21-year-old who scored the second goal in that game? In the semi-final of the World Cup, Enzo Fernandez found Alvarez with a beautiful over-header and brought a deadlock-breaking penalty. Unwittingly, he has become the thigh of Argentine midfielder.
01. The “Argentine champion of liberal arts” who wrote poems for Messi at the age of 15.
A. six years ago, he wrote poems to Macy
“if you leave, we will have a disaster, but is there any way to persuade you (to stay)? Do what you want to do and hope you can have a good time on the pitch. Once you can do that, you don’t know how happy we will be. ”
This is six years ago, when Messi chose to quit the Argentine national team, 15-year-old Enzo Fernandez “wrote a poem” to Messi on social media, which earned him the nickname “Argentine liberal arts champion”.
Like countless young people born in Argentina, they have not seen Maradona’s performance on the pitch, but regard Messi as their idol.
As a big fan of Lionel Messi, Enzo Fernandez’s greatest wish is to play on the same team as Messi.
So when he had the chance to join the Argentine national team and play at the same time, the 21-year-old’s dream finally came true.
b. Former Riverbed Gemini: where will Enzo go in the future?
It is worth mentioning that Enzo Fernandez and Alvarez, both post-00, are young talents from the Argentine giant team Riverbed.
Both of them came to Europe this season and Enzo Fernandez went to Benfica in the Portuguese Super League to become the main team and play in the Champions League. Alvarez rotates at Manchester City, but also wins the trust of Guardiola.
Enzo Fernandez has become the number one signing target for Premiership giants Liverpool because of his excellent performance in the World Cup. But will he really compete with his good friend Alvarez for the championship?
With Real Madrid also showing interest in Enzo, it is unlikely that he will come to the Premier League. Although he was eager to join Barcelona, with the departure of Lionel Messi, joining Real Madrid may also be an acceptable option.
Although only 21 years old, Enzo Fernandez already has a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
He started dating his girlfriend Valentina at the age of 19 and soon had the crystallization of love. Although they are not married yet, their relationship is very strong. Having a stable family early also gives Enzo more ambition and motivation.
02. Great shooting potential & has excellent defensive vigilance
a. The skill of long-range shooting is very good & dribbles forward very fast.
When the group stage was first opened, Enzo Fernandez was placed in the back of the team. Because Argentina used the 433 formation at that time, there was DiMaria on the flank.
Enzo Fernandez is the one who has the best defense, the broadest vision of passing and the best agility of dribbling the ball forward, so he is placed in the back position in the center.
Enzo Fernandez is good at hitting the wall, whether he leads the pass or moves quickly, so he is in tune with Lionel Messi.
On the other hand, after this wall pass, Enzo Fernandez quickly moved forward with the ball, with a clear choice of dribbling, followed by a high-quality long-range shot or a deadly pass to the core area (a good straight plug after the header).
In the final eight against the Netherlands, Enzo made a wonderful long-range shot in overtime, but the ball hit heavily on the post and bounced off the post, which was a little short of the goal (before that, he also had a very threatening long-range shot, hitting the defender with a broken line, slightly above the crossbar).
Enzo’s shooting is characterized by fast leg swing and good force, so he can make a high-quality shot in an instant and does not need much room for adjustment.
Enzo Fernandez scored a wonderful goal in the group stage against Mexico. At that time, he took the ball in the corner of the penalty area and seemed to be no threat.
As a result, a beautiful dodge out of the space, followed by a lightning-fast shot, hit a dead corner to score a goal.
b. Good defensive vigilance: good at stealing data
Not only did Enzo Fernandez score before the meeting, but the defender Enzo Fernandez was also excellent. Enzo made four successful steals in the semi-final against Croatia.
He is characterized by a strong ability to move continuously, a good sense of crisis, and good at making up and moving fast.
For example, this time the Croatian players inserted the space behind the Argentine right-back Molina, Enzo Fernandez immediately lost the ball to catch up with the position, so that the other side lost the possibility of taking the ball.
Because Molina is more attacking than defensive, it can be seen many times in the game that Enzo Fernandez is behind him.
Argentina’s third goal against Croatia was the result of Enzo moving sideways to protect the flank and stabilizing the ball to open a counterattack.
At the end of the regular time of the final eight of the Netherlands, the opponent’s ingenious free kick deceived everyone, and only Enzo Fern á ndez immediately noticed the problem and made up for it.
Unfortunately, due to the strength gap with Wigghorst is too big, resulting in the opponent opened after scoring, failed to complete the rescue. But the young Enzo can make up the position, or can be affirmed.
03. The ability to pass the ball: it is already the core of the Argentine midfield.
a. Wide field of vision for passing: excellent ability for the last pass
In the semi-final against Croatia, Argentina gave up DiMaria and used the 442 formation. Under the double-back configuration, Enzo Fernandez has more opportunities to lead the attack, and his passing performance is also convincing.
Alvarez created the deadlock-breaking penalty and it was a wonderful pass from Enzo Fernandez. The header went straight through the Croatian defence and brought an excellent chance to score.
In the group stage against Poland, Enzo Fernandez, who started for the first time, scored his first assist in the World Cup.
His characteristic is that he takes off very fast with the ball and then has a strong ability to pass on the move. This time it was just right for Alvarez to find Alvarez, who shot the goal directly.
b. Fast passing tempo: don’t drag your feet.
According to the statistics after the top 16, Enzo Fernandez, who played only two and a half games at that time, has reached the top 3 position in the passing statistics of U23 young people.
His characteristic is that he is good at hitting the wall, passing the ball at a fast pace, and dealing with the ball without sloppiness.
Like this cooperation, Alvarez passed across, Enzo without pause directly to the vacant Lionel Messi, coach Scaroni re-use his reason here, to deal with the ball lively, good vision.
Let’s take a look at this attack, Enzo Fernandez picked up Lionel Messi in front of the restricted area, giving his teammates who had been forced to a corner a chance to get out of trouble.
The key is that Enzo’s passing accuracy is very high, this time when Messi gave him the ball, he quickly received the right straight plug from Enzo Fernandez and got the chance to face the goalkeeper.
On the other hand, Enzo Fernandez can also insert the ribs in the penalty area, this time he accelerated into the penalty area, then inverted to Alvarez to create an excellent scoring opportunity, but his teammates failed to seize it.
Conclusion:
Messi’s two best helpers in this World Cup are from Riverbed. Alvarez in attack and Enzo Fernandez in midfield became the two main contributors to the team’s entry to the final.
No wonder Maradona’s grandson, Aguero’s son, did not ask his father to ask Messi for a jersey, but went out to the dressing room to get an Enzo Fernandez shirt. Maybe he knows the ball as well as he knows very well that the future Argentine leader has already appeared in the team.
(Himu)