Gavi: Luis Enrique tips Spain midfielder to be ‘star of football’ after World Cup display v Costa Rica

Gavi became Spain’s youngest ever goalscorer at a World Cup after scoring in the 74th minute of the Group E clash.

“I hope he’s going to play better every time and trying to be aggressive with and without ball,” he said.

“He’s unique, very different because he’s 18 now, but he has the personality of an experienced player.

“It is a pleasure to play with the boy, because he is a boy. He needs a bit of calm sometimes but we are very happy to have him in the team.

“I think he’s going to be one of the stars of football.”

Gavi was pleased with his own display and also called his midfield partner Pedri “a spectacular player”.

He said: “I’m very happy to win and delighted to be MVP. We played a great game, well done everyone.

“Pedri and I are very good friends off the pitch and on the pitch there is not much to say, he’s a spectacular player and it’s very easy to play alongside him.”

Analysis: Spain thrashing Costa Rica a pleasant surprise

Eurosport Spain’s Felix Martin

The truth is in Spain we are all very pleasantly surprised. In theory Spain are a far superior side to Costa Rica, with more experience in World Cups and better players. A victory was to be expected, but not as heavy as 7-0.

Gavi is breaking records at such a young age. But I think that in this Spanish team there is not any player who stands out above any other. It is very well known that both Gavi and Pedri are supposed to be the perfect replacement for Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

Enrique was harshly criticised after announcing his squad for the World Cup. Spain are a team without great stars, and therefore, it seems that all the attention falls on the coach.

It was expected that Spain would be a competitive team, as they showed in the last European Championship, losing on penalties in the semi-finals.The truth is that after this great start it would be hard to see Spain not qualifying from the group stage.

Spain’s performance was a surprise. We were all hoping for a potential win against Costa Rica. But the truth is that it was a thrashing in which Enrique’s team showed an intensity and a hunger to continue scoring goals never seen before from a Spanish national team.

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