A young Real Madrid midfielder, already compared to Pogba, is being courted by two national teams he qualifies for through his bloodline: Spain and Colombia.
The Spanish national team has fully entered the battle with Colombia to secure the international future of one of the great gems of Real Madrid's youth academy: Gorka Abascal.
The 15-year-old Real Madrid midfielder, who plays for the Cadete A team, has become a coveted piece for both national teams, which have been engaged in a dispute for months, awaiting the player's final decision.
Gorka, as in the case of many other emerging talents (for example, his teammate Unai Ordonez), is eligible to play for both countries and has quickly given rise to a tug-of-war between the federations.
Abascal was signed by Real Madrid last summer from Athletic Bilbao. From that moment, he came onto the radar of both national teams. A midfielder with a powerful physique and great technique who quickly began to generate buzz at La Fabrica and, by extension, caught the attention of both national teams.
Spain made the first move and called him up last November to the under-16 team when he had just turned 15. Gorka made his debut in a match against the United States, but he was not on the next list in February for the UEFA Development Tournament in Turkey against France, England, and Denmark, which was played from Feb. 21 to 26.
The reason is that the player answered the call of the Colombian under-17 team, which recruited him for a pair of friendlies against Brazil on Feb. 24 and 27. He started in the second of those matches, and after that first call-up, Colombia wanted to take him to the South American under-17 championship.
A request that was denied by Real Madrid, which could have decided since the tournament was not played on a FIFA date, and did not want to lose a player who has been key in the league title recently won by Real Madrid's Cadete A team.
After this denial, the next move was made by the Spanish national team, which called him up again. Gorka has been included in the under-16 squad (along with fellow Real Madrid players Joel Palle, Asier Sanchez, and Carlos Sanchez) for a training camp in Los Angeles de San Rafael from May 4 to 7, where the national team coached by Hernan Perez will hold training sessions.
A reaction move by the Spanish federation in its attempt to maintain closeness with the young footballer. A move that is in no way related to the player having already made a final decision about his international future. Gorka will return next week with Spain, but the door of the Colombian national team remains wide open.
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