The surprising international emergence of Petar Cikusa He will have the final prize in an unforgettable season for him: the young Barça center back He was going to the Paris Olympics at only 18 years old because Spanish coach Jordi Ribera decided to sign him after Joan Cañellas was ruled out due to injury.
Being ready at the right time and in the right place for the sporting circumstances, that’s what the Catalan has done, a player with ‘duende’ whose jump into Barça’s first team has already been accelerated by the serious knee injury suffered by Domen Makucwho was supposed to be the starting center back after Luka Cindric left the club.
His excellent response to the orders of Carlos Ortega also opened the doors of the senior team for him. and, finally, he will be one of the three reserves for Spain in Paris in case of injury to a teammate, along with goalkeeper Sergey Hernández and pivot Adrià Figueras, who was also spared due to Gedeón Guardiola’s injury. Jorge Maqueda jumped to the list of 14 to cover Cañellas’ last-minute loss.
Cikusa is already in Olympic preparation, but he was one of the castaways from Ribera when the coach announced the call for 14+3 and he joined the under-20 team, where he won gold at the European Championship in Slovenia on Sunday and was also the MVP of the championship. This is the third successful summer of this group led by ‘Jabato’ Fernández after the European under-18 gold in 2022 and the world under-19 title in 2023.
After that gold and the MVP, the call to Paris was the culmination of an extraordinary season for Petarwho together with his twin brother Djordje signed their first professional contracts with Barça, until 2027, and in June became the youngest Champions League champion in the history of Barça handball.
Whether he plays in Paris or not, being part of the ‘Hispanics’ team dynamics will be a valuable experience for Cikusa for the future, because both Petar and his brother Djordje, if they maintain their current development, are called two main pieces in the coming years for both Barça and the Spanish team.
Djordje, who is recovering from a fiber injury sustained against Switzerland at the U-20 European Championship, will spend next season on loan at French side Montpellier before returning to Palau in June 2025, but Petar is already part of the 2024 Barça squad . 25.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
