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Sid LoweSpanish writer
“If that was done by some other player, we would have talked about it for a very long time,” CP Sports Goalie Antonio Adan speak. Anyway, they’ve been talking about it for quite some time.
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“Magic,” the Record said. “Art”, O Jogo advocates. “Transcendence,” A Bola calls it the moment when 39,899 people stood up, unable to believe what they had just seen but really glad they did: a Maradona in their midst. The kind of moment that unfolds, the viewers become witnesses, drawn to it, destined to talk about it all the time. Each part is more absurd, building on the last: He’s not?! He is not ?! He can’t, can he?
In the end, he couldn’t. Not points, at least. Which, somehow, might have even made it better. Okay, not exactly better but you get it correctly. If it is art, by not ending up in a goal, it has become art for its own sake. And suddenly everyone was talking about it. Transcendence may really be the word; it passes this place and passes the game, this goal is not so. The people inside this place feel it; you may have seen it by now. When Marcus Edwardsthe kid they used to call Mini Messi, was a Maradonian.
There was a roar when, during Sporting’s meeting with Tottenham Hotspur This week, Edwards makes a quick swing and quick feet. But this was different. This is like an oh, an ah and what the heck, the breath is held, the supporters still open their mouths and stand to give a round of applause.
“You see him there and you think ‘he can’t get out of there’ and he’s out,” one report ran. “You see him running for the ball and thinking ‘he can’t get there,’ and he got it.”
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Edwards picked up the ball in the middle of the field, turned and beat Eric Diernot once but twice, go past him to one side and come back to him on the other side, beyond Ivan Perisic too, hip shaking. He played it to Francisco Trincao and get it back, flip through Cristian Romero and then, five yards out… slide. The ball, which was nudged towards the goal from there, was very close somehow went over the post, missed Hugo Lloris who it hit twice.
“He almost scored a historic goal golazo“Adan said, chuckling as he re-imagined it. It’s one of those things: one of those things when you feel like laughing.
It’s not just a moment. It’s not just his 15 minutes of fame – and of course, consistency is challenging. Every game, Edwards is excellent, just like he was in the opening game of the week, 3-0 win in Eintracht Frankfurt when he made an assist and scored a goal, helping him score three goals in seven games. However, this is special: against the club he has joined since the age of 8, but speaking of those minutes, he played only 15 League Cup games against Gillingham.
Incidentally, the man he beat twice, started his career here again: The Dier family moved to Portugal when his mother got the job for Euro 2004.
Edwards has always been special, they know. His first professional contract was bigger than they’d ever given a kid, and it was a battle: for a long time, it looked like they could lose him, and that was a prospect. disturbing scene. This kid is going to be a star.
Born in Enfield, north London, a lot of Tottenham territory, just 5 feet 6 and incredibly talented, left-footed, the most gifted of his generation, Edwards has been given the title of “Mini” Messi” is there for a reason.
The coach then Mauricio Pochettino, mind you, tried to take a step back to get to his level, from giving him that responsibility. It was as if he had realized from the moment it came out of his mouth that this might not be the best thing to say. “His qualities…just his looks, his body and the way he plays…reminiscent of Messi’s beginnings,” Pochettino said. It was September 2016 and the next day Edwards was made his debut at the age of 17. He didn’t play for Spurs anymore.
Got a loan at Norwich, just one game. One year in Rotterdam. Then there was a move to Vitoria Guimaraes, Portugal, where it all started right: 85 games and 20 goals in two and a half seasons, before Sporting paid £7.5m to sign him in January of last year. “We did good business,” Sporting coach Ruben Amorim said this week, smiling. Inevitably, it was all too easy, now people are asking if maybe Spurs didn’t.
“He is a very good prospect and, potentially, he could become a top player but we need to be patient and tell him he has a lot of talent, enough talent to become a top player, a great player, but now what. He builds his future. That’s very important,” Pochettino said at the time before his professional debut, his first and last game for Spurs.
There was an injury and Pochettino also later admitted that there were power and behavior problems. There have been suggestions that Edwards is a private man, possibly shy or aloof, not always as attached to others as he would like to be – and that is something that has been repeated in Lisbon. This is about people as much as players.
It is always like that. If it was obvious then, listening to the people around him, it still is now. How could it be different? “We’re human, and that’s forgotten: it’s like we’re machines and we have to go out there and do what the fans and journalists want us to do,” Adan said on Thursday night. Three, when he discussed his teammates. “We often forget that personal element.”
That is always there; it never completely disappears. “It took him a little while to adapt to Portugal, but he has adjusted,” added his Amorim. “Lisbon is not London; it’s different and it’s all impactful but he’s got talent. He could be much more progressive, maybe even involved. England team. He just needs to focus more – not only on the training but everything around it. Football is not just the matches, it is everything in between. I trust him a lot, I know he can grow a lot. “
When asked about that statement on Tuesday night, Edwards insisted he hadn’t even thought about it. But does he want to play for England? “Yeah, it would be nice,” he said, and soon the others echoed the same, after watching the English boy move abroad tear his old team apart. They wonder what could have been and what could still happen.
“Talent, class and a lot of magic,” said A Bola, “a tireless little ant who not only inspires offense but delivers everything in defense. This is a multi-million dollar exhibit.” Hugo Lloris had seen it up close. Somehow, even he didn’t know how, he stopped Edwards from scoring a goal that was undoubtedly the best of the season.
“He’s more mature now, he’s 23 and he has the same qualities we saw a few years ago when he trained with the first team,” Lloris said. “He has the perfect background to play for this type of team. If he continues in the same way, he will have a bright future.”
When asked to identify him, Adan replied: “Different.”
He added: “Marcus gives us the ability to go over, change the game, lead, break through. He runs very well with the ball and he is in a great moment of confidence. He has come to be a good group for him A group of young people, with people who are helping him to be a part of it more, for him to join us.
“He’s also doing really well in his role. He talks a lot to us and that means he’s happy, it shows on the pitch. What you see on the pitch reflects the way people are. doing it. And I think he’s happy.” He also has the confidence and trust of the manager to try those things.”
There is a smile. “And he almost scored a goal… historic, a golazo. It’s great, we love it and we’re lucky to have a player like Marcus. “
