Barcelona To Make The Call On Bojan

May 15th, 2008 | by: chris |

Spain is supposed to release its Swissaustria squad sans-Raul on Friday, at which point we’ll all supposedly get an answer to the question: To Bojan, Or Not To Bojan?

I don’t get too excited about overhyped wunderkids (that’s a complete lie), but Bojan is something really special. To be able to play at his age in the most important Champions League and La Liga game says just as much about his maturity and composure as it does about his game. That’s not an age when you should have that many expectations placed on your shoulder. But he did it and did it well with a first year tally of 10 goals.

The question now asks whether or not Luis Aragones will deem it fit to call him up for a major tournament, not exactly an unprecedented move recently (I’m lookin’ at you, Sven). Talent-wise? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. But that’s not always what matters with youngsters. It’s whether or not they can stand up to the pressure of playing on such a big stage for their country – a different animal than the club scene.

It’s being reported Aragones is leaving the decision with Barcelona, asking whether or not Bojan can stand up to the mental rigors of the Euros. Everything he did this year seems to indicate he’s up to the challenge, but we don’t know everything that happens behind the scene. The kid may have been a teary wreck after every game. Of course, this is Spain. And their habit of, shall we say, tournament failures is both well documented and very frustrating for the fans. That’s a whole level up beyond the typical “big country at big tournament” deal. So who knows.

We should find out Friday. I for one hope we all get to see a bit of this: