Pedro, The Unsung Hero
By: IBESFirst of all, hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving Holiday and enjoyed some great food, shopping deals and of course hanging out with friends and families. I am also sure that for most fans, this Thanksgiving became less stressful or more relaxed after Barcelona defeated Inter Milan 2-0 this past Tuesday. With Ibrahimovic and Messi not inserted into the starting lineup, there were doubts and concerns about that encounter being a difficult match for the club to win. Thankfully, the academy players came to the rescue with Pique and Pedro scoring early on in the first half to ease nerves and help Barcelona regain the group. Perhaps Pep and the fans have to be thankful for Pedro coming through for the club so far this season with 10 goals in all competitions thus far and is currently the team’s top scorer.
“El Canario” Pedro is enjoying a fine sophomore season with Barcelona and it’s been a blessing of some sort. With the departure of Eto’o and the injuries affecting Ibrahimovic, Henry and Iniesta, goals were going to be tough to come by. Nevertheless, the goals have still come, but from unlikely sources thanks to Keita and Pedro. Pedro is the team’s top scorer in the Champions League, while Eto’o has yet to score in Europe and has scored in five different club competitions in one season, a feat only done once by Giovanni Silva back in the 1997-1998 season while Stoichkov, Salinas and Txiki only scored in four.
No one had any high expectations of Pedro of ever being great for the club unlike Bojan, Gai and Messi. I saw something in him when he scored that brace in last season's Champions League qualifiers against Wilsa and thought he could be a fine addition as a winger for the club. Not only is he a good winger, but seems to be a good fox in the box for the club too. The Canary Island native came through the youth academy and got some limited appearances last season. Pedro was thought of as some bit role player who would feature in the Copa Del Rey games, throw away Champions League group stages games and other league games where the league title had been clinched. However, after the sale of Eto’o, loaning out of Hleb and the high inflated transfer prices that followed Real Madrid’s summer of signings and hindered Barcelona’s chances of signing new players, Pedro has come in handy and, out of nowhere, has scored 10 goals for this club.
Pedro is not that highly rated either with some criticizing his lackluster work ethic, his tendency to lose possession and add to the fact that his name is pretty basic. Pedro used to go by Pedrito but overall, the name lacks a certain pizzazz such that as Ronaldinho, Romario, Eto’o and Ibrahimovic. Nevertheless, Henry and Raul have also shown us that players can be great with boring names too as long as those players can score, and Pedro so far has done just that. Of course I am not saying Pedro is as good as Henry and Raul, but his goals sure have helped the club this season.
His first goal was in the first leg in the Spanish Super Cup against Athletic which was the game winning goal. He then followed that game winner with another one in the UEFA Super Cup Final when Pedro came on as a substitute and scored with five minutes left in extra time to clinch the cup for the club. He also scored a memorable goal against Almeria and notched a brace in a Cope Del Rey game too. Now of course some of the credit also goes to his teammates for making him look good too but Pedro is sure taking advantage of his opportunities this season. Sadly, it also begs the question of what’s taking Bojan so long to score too. Pedro has scored as many goals as it takes Bojan to score all season.
Of course when all the big name players are healthy, Pedro will go back to the bench and see less minutes but no one can deny that he has played a big part in the team’s positive start in this new season. Here’s hoping that Pedro gets to score the FIFA Club World Cup and becomes the first player ever in the world to score in six different club competitions and the club finally wins that trophy to add to the museum. Until then, here’s hoping that the guys remind Real Madrid who truly is the best team in Spain tomorrow in the Camp Nou.
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