The 'Little Devil' Works Harder: Guardiola Lauds Echeverri After 'Quality' Debut Goal

Last Updated:June 23, 2025, 10:53 IST

Pep Guardiola praised Claudio Echeverri's dedication after the 19-year-old scored a stunning free-kick in Manchester City's 6-0 win over Al Ain.

Echeverri, the Argentine prodigy. (AFP)

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola lauded teenage attacking midfielder Claudio Echeverri’s commitment to training after he scored a remarkable free-kick in the Club World Cup victory over Al Ain on Sunday.

The 19-year-old netted City’s second goal in a 6-0 thrashing of the UAE team in Atlanta, propelling the Premier League club into the last 16 of FIFA’s expanded competition.

In his first start for the club, Echeverri scored his debut goal, skillfully curling a free-kick from the edge of the box around the wall and into the top corner.

“I want to tell you something, since he arrived in January, the last three or four months with the lads, at the end of the training session, he was practising the free-kicks alone, with the ‘keeper, with the wall," Guardiola told reporters.

“The others didn’t practise, he was practising and practising, and work pays off.

“So at the end, he had the courage, the quality. When you practise, you know, it’s like golf or basketball; the more you practise free shots, the more chances you have."

Echeverri, nicknamed the ‘Little Devil’, joined from Argentine giants River Plate and made his City debut in May during the FA Cup final defeat by Crystal Palace.

Guardiola substituted him at half-time for Phil Foden, later explaining the playmaker had sustained a minor knock.

“It was a fantastic goal, he’s an incredible player in small spaces," continued the City coach.

“Unfortunately, he couldn’t continue to half-time because of a problem with the ankle, but yeah, he was truly good in the first minutes, and… he made a fantastic goal, the free kick was really, really, really good."

With two late goals from Oscar Bobb and Rayan Cherki, City nearly overtook Juventus at the top of Group G.

They are level on points with the Old Lady but trail in terms of goals scored. To secure the top spot and potentially avoid Real Madrid in the last 16, City must beat Juve on Thursday in Orlando.

“With one more goal, we’d have two options. Now we have just one, maybe it’s better," said Guardiola.

“What’s important is that we are in the next phase… we will face top, top teams sooner or later, so it doesn’t matter.

“We will eventually see the Brazilian teams, European top-class teams, so it’s not a big concern."

(With AFP Inputs)

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