Cubarsí's World Cup

He is only 19 years old and is an undisputed starter for a team that has qualified for the World Cup semi-finals for the second time in its history. Pau Cubarsí forms, together with Aymeric Laporte, the most solid partnership in the championship: they have only conceded one goal in seven matches, that of the Belgian De Ketelaere. But what's more, the Barça player even dared to shoot at goal with the shot that goalkeeper Lammens blocked and which Mikel Merino took advantage of to score the definitive 2-1 for the Spanish national team.

Cubarsí's statistics against Belgium are impressive. Only Rodri touched the ball more against the Belgians than the Catalan, although the midfielder made more errors because he had a 94% success rate in his 104 combination attempts. The centre-back completed no less than 89 out of 91 passes correctly. These are numbers of an absolute star, for a kid who until not long ago said that if football didn't work out for him, he had a plan B to continue with the family business, his father's carpentry shop in Estanyol, a town of less than 200 inhabitants. Just in case, though, he is enrolled in the degree in business administration and management.

It is highly unlikely that Cubarsí will be chosen as the MVP of a World Cup match, especially when a certain Lamine Yamal plays alongside him, who, despite not being in superstar mode, is proving fundamental for the national team, not only for his will, passion, or technical qualities, but also for his intelligence in not obsessing over being the protagonist and scoring a goal before filtering passes to his teammates and drawing in opponents. But the centre-back deserves public recognition. If the Spanish national team is in the semi-finals, it is also thanks to him.

Now awaits the best offensive power of the World Cup: Dembélé, Doué, Olise, and Mbappé. Almost nothing. But it is people and stories like Pau Cubarsí's that allow us to identify with a national team that is more than a uniform and emotionless entity, and that gives us the chance to cheer for a 19-year-old boy who is living a dream he didn't expect two years ago, when he debuted at 17 against Unionistas de Salamanca in the Copa del Rey under Hansi Flick. When the years pass and we remember the World Cup in Mexico, Canada, and the United States, we will also realize that it was Cubarsí's first.