Schmidt responded to Koeman: It might make sense to compare me to Pedri, strive for the death cup

6686 Sports November 12 According to ESPN reports, Alkmaar’s 19-year-old midfielder Keith Smit has recently attracted much attention due to some high praise from Dutch coach Koeman. Koeman even compared him to Barcelona star Pedri, and it was Koeman who personally promoted Pedri at Barcelona.

In this regard, Schmidt said: "If the coach sees it that way, it may make sense."

According to reports, Schmidt has always been a loyal fan of Pedri. After De Bruyne left Manchester City, the Barcelona midfielder became an important subject for him to study and draw inspiration from. "I watch almost every Barcelona game. It is my favorite club."

In addition to Pedri, he also admires another Dutch international Frenkie de Jong. Just earlier in the day, De Jong also revealed that he had chatted with his national team teammates about Smit's performance. "It's really heartwarming to hear this." Schmidt said with a smile.

Regarding the possibility of participating in the World Cup, Schmidt said: "It would be great to be selected, but it is not my main goal. But... maybe this is indeed a goal. I will go all out to strive for it, but I don't really expect it to happen."

Schmidt once led the AZ youth team to win the Youth Champions League championship, and after winning the European Youth Championship with the Netherlands U19, the outside world's expectations for him have soared. Schmidt said: "I know everyone has a lot of expectations for me, but I don't think about it at all during the competition. As soon as I step on the competition field, all the noise seems to automatically slip away from me."