FC Barcelona: Pau Cubarsi reveals the players who inspired him — and more

Young FC Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi shares his idols at the club

FC Barcelona: Pau Cubarsi reveals the players who inspired him

In a recent interview, Pau Cubarsi unveiled the two names who inspired him in his role as a defender at FC Barcelona.

A promising young talent already making his mark at FC Barcelona, Pau Cubarsi has chosen his role models wisely. In an interview with France Football, the Catalan center-back revealed that he looked up to two former Barça legends to shape his own playing style.

"My references have always been Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué. With Puyol, I mostly watched highlights. I tried to draw inspiration from his character and the way he led the team. From Piqué, whom I had the chance to watch play, I tried to learn his ball progression and positioning. That really helped me become the player I am today. And I really like Van Dijk, a benchmark for his composure, leadership, and the way he builds from the back," the Spanish international admitted.

Rio Ngumoha was controversially denied a fairytale moment at Anfield on Saturday night, but nothing and no-one was going to stop him from making a show-stopping impact less than 24 hours later.

The 17-year-old came off the bench for Liverpool’s first team in their 3-0 victory over Brighton in the FA Cup and momentarily thought he’d scored in front of the Kop when firing past Jason Steele, but unfortunately the goal was disallowed for offside.

Replays showed that it should have stood, and VAR wasn’t in operation to correct the error, and Arne Slot voiced his disagreement with the decision in his post-match press conference, although the teenage prodigy didn’t dwell on the disappointment for long.

Ngumoha scores worldie for Liverpool under-21s

On Sunday afternoon, Ngumoha lined out for the Reds’ under-21s against their West Brom counterparts in Premier League 2, and the goal that he scored to put his team 3-2 ahead shortly before half-time was a thing of beauty.

Collecting a ball on the left flank from a Trey Nyoni pass, he surged into the penalty area and jinked past two opponents before crashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the visitors’ net, and there was nothing in the slightest to prevent that magnificent strike from counting on the scoreboard.

It proved to be a significant moment too, as Rob Page’s side eventually won 4-3 (via liverpoolfc.com).

Image via @cnsultra on X

Ngumoha already looks like an elite talent

With the greatest of respect to the under-21s, even a hat-trick yesterday wouldn’t have meant as much for Ngumoha as a goal in front of the Kop in a competitive fixture only a few months after turning 17.

Nonetheless, what happened on Saturday night takes nothing away from the excellent of the strike that he produced in the victory over West Brom, and any minutes that he can get on the pitch at any level will stand to the teenager as he embarks on what has the makings of being an elite career.

It isn’t his first time double-jobbing on the same weekend, either – he followed up his outing off the bench in our 3-2 Premier League defeat to Bournemouth last month with by lining out for the under-21s against Leeds the very next day.

Ngumoha has already shown glimpses of his outrageous talent at senior level, displaying a confidence and dribbling ability which belies his tender years, and there have been calls for Slot to play him more regularly.

There has been an understandable reluctance from the first-team head coach to expose the winger too much at such a sensitive stage in his footballing development, but everything we’ve seen of the 17-year-old so far suggests that he’s taking that biggest of leaps in his stride.

You can view Ngumoha’s goal for Liverpool’s under-21s below, via thelfcacademy on Instagram:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Liverpool FC Academy (@thelfcacademy)

There is plenty of excitement on tap for Monday's Olympic schedule. Viewers can tune in to watch six highly anticipated gold medal events.