Fermin Lopez left Barcelona on June 1 as the revelation of the season alongside Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí and will return as the king of the Paris Olympic GamesAt 21 years and 86 days old, the Barça youth player is finishing off a first campaign in the elite in style. His growth has been evident since he became known to the vast majority of the public with that goal against Thibaut Courtois, the best goalkeeper in the world, in the Clasico on July 30, 2023 in the United States and, twelve months later, at the Games, he is establishing himself as the most decisive footballer in the tournament. If Lamine Yamal, the teenager from La Masia who played and won the European Championship as a benchmark for La Roja between the ages of 16 and 17, becoming the best young player in the competition, Fermín is also showing that the big stage is his thing. “Now, for the gold”he said after scoring his fourth goal in the Olympic tournament in the semi-final against Morocco, as he scored two more in the quarter-finals against Japan. He is already in the final, which he will play on Friday against the host France, elevated as the winner of the tournament. “The King of Paris”Once again, as occurred in the four European Championships won by the Spanish team and the only World Cup in its list of achievements, the successes of the Spanish team cannot be explained without the irrefutable role of the players raised in La Masia, with Fermín as the most recent example.
Although his role in the Euros was merely symbolic, Fernín hopes to add to the title he won in Germany with an Olympic gold medal in which his leading role is undeniable. So much so that he has often been above his own team, getting them out of tight spots like against Japan and, above all, against Morocco, in that semi-final in an uncomfortable context. Fermín is proving to be a player who likes the big stage and the challenge, who does not come riding on a previous wave of expectation, so often exaggerated in other cases. In that sense, he is reminiscent of Pedro Rodríguez. Also in his rebellion against adversity, like Eto’o, and in his deterministic faith in his arrival in the opposite area, he is one of those midfielders with the goal nailed between his eyebrows, like Luis Enrique in the second part of his career. So many times above the general recognition that he has been earning from the bottom, but at a dizzying speed: just over a year ago he was in Linares, of the Primera RFEF, where his 12 goals and 4 assists caught the attention of Xavi Hernández to make room for him in the first team of Barça. Being a resource player, he was, by far, the most decisive midfielder in the opposition area among all those of Barça: 11 goals in 42 official matches and 1,900 minutes: 8 in the League, 2 in the Champions League and 1 in the Copa del Rey.
Fermín is rounding off an impressive year at the Paris Games: he has already scored 16 goals between Barça and the various national teams, and is a believer like few others in that long-range shot that connects, moreover, with any leg. Not only that: he runs, presses, assists and, thanks to all that, he is contagious.
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In Friday’s final against France, Fermín has the chance to surpass Kiko Narváez’s five goals for Spain in the Olympic gold medal at Barcelona in 1992. The Barça youth player is the youngest player to score and assist in an Olympic qualifying match since Neymar Jr. in 2012. His influence in scoring, the most difficult part of football, is corroborated by the numbers: with four goals and two assists, he has been involved in six of the 11 goals scored by Santi Denia’s Olympic team.
Except for the Euros, where he barely played for a while against Albania, Fermín has scored in all the competitions he has played in this unforgettable season for him. His highlights are impressive, but the best thing is almost everything else, starting with that contagious ambition. He is sometimes criticised for his lack of pause, but blessed is his excitement given what has been seen since Xavi made him debut in an official match against Villarreal in LaLiga 2023-2024, and he ended up scoring a goal with his second touch of the ball. From there, a goal at the Bernabéu in the League Clásico and his emergence in the face of the world in these Paris Olympic Games that already have his “king”. “The most important thing remains to get the gold”he said after his display against Morocco, with the decisive goal and assist. Another Fermín returns to Barça, although the essential thing is that he remains the same.
