En-Nesyri, from ashes to heaven at Sevilla
The counter-attack is a guilty pleasure in this new soccer of cement and parsimony. Like Bitter Kas, the counter-attack has the flavor of another time. Sevilla took the lead against Juventus in the first leg with a vintage move. Recovery and quick transition looking for the flank. A colorful burst. And once in the opponent’s half: look up, find the heart of the box and give the ball to the striker who waits, licking his lips, hungry for a goal. Youssef En-Nesyri (Fez, Morocco; 1997) has scored 18 goals this season. Good numbers for a striker, better if you put the magnifying glass on them: 16 of those goals were scored in 2023. When Sevilla Football Club was suffering the most. When it was thirstiest, the footballer arrived with his canteen.
The match against Juventus at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán is a party after a season with more Betadine than caresses.. The return of the Europa League semifinals are the discreet relief of the team that has suffered in recent months. Three coaches and a poorly designed team, which has flirted with the relegation places in La Liga, which has gone through the Champions League without bravura and could barely compete in the Copa del Rey. En-Nesyri symbolizes the resurgence. The metaphor of the phoenix. The cradle of ashes. The striker tore off his unimportance by strips. The World Cup in Qatar empowered the Moroccan. The magnificent role of his national team, which played in the semifinals against France, encouraged the fainting and cold game he had been playing during the season. Substitutions and absences. Whistles and invitations to leave.
“Despite his appearance, so carefree, he is a hard-working and very stubborn guy.. He wanted to stay at Sevilla. He knew that his time would come and he was not willing to leave through the back door,” they say from the club’s environment. In the winter market, after his good World Cup, some offers were shuffled. West Ham put twenty million on the table, but his categorical refusal postponed the possible talks. “I thank all the clubs that have contacted my agent. But right now I want to keep my head only on Sevilla. It’s not a matter of money. It’s a sporting matter, of wanting to help the team in the worst moments. I had the chance to leave on other occasions and I also said no. Now we all need each other. Now we all need each other.. There is a lot of season left, “he came to say in a statement on his social networks.
Soccer players like Youssef are brewing over a slow fire. He trained at the Mohammed VI Football Academy, one of the most prestigious in Morocco. In 2015 Malaga paid 125,000 euros for him. Joselu Ceballos, who played in the Cádiz youth academy, faced him in a match of lower categories: “He stood out, not only because of his size. It was fast and very technical. He inflated scoring goals. Now when I see him I feel that he lacks pause, that sometimes his head goes faster than his legs, but that he was going to be a professional was something that, as soon as he saw him play, we all knew about it.
Juande Ramos made him debut with the first team of the Costa del Sol and just a few days later, Hervé Renard gave him the alternative with the national team. The coach José González, who had him under his orders, defined him this way in EL MUNDO: «When I arrived, I saw potential in a very cheeky boy in everything he did. Very daring and explosive, although sometimes without pause. He had some bestial physical qualities, both from behind and in space, and a very powerful passing game.
After Málaga came Leganés, who paid 6 million for him. And then 20 million from Sevilla to turn him into what he is today. A striker with European star numbers. Against Juventus, En-Nesyri has the obligation to complete his transformation. To redeem his team after a bitter season. To take a step perhaps definitive in his aspiration to be a striker with world showcase. Speed and decisiveness, impudence and impossible headers. Mendilibar has found the treasure, but En-Nesyri is the one who holds the key.