Barcelona youngster Hamza Abdelkarim proved himself the star of the show in the club’s latest pre-season friendly outing on Friday evening.
Afforded the chance to impress by Hansi Flick, the young Egyptian – whose arrival in Catalunya’s capital was made permanent this summer – took full advantage of the opportunity afforded to him.
After Barcelona made the trip to St. Andrew’s for a meeting with English outfit Birmingham City, Abdelkarim was chosen to lead the Blaugrana frontline.
The 18-year-old from here went on to draw the Spanish champions level late in the first-half, courtesy of a confident spot-kick:
Abdelkarim then doubled his tally for the night on the hour mark, showing off his goalscoring instincts with a close-range finish after a shot from the edge of the penalty area was spilled:
After Birmingham made it 2-2 a short time later, the fixture was sent to a penalty shootout, from which the hosts ultimately emerged triumphant.
For young striker Abdelkarim, though, it proved an outing which will live long in the memory…
Conor Laird – GSFN
