Bryan Zaragoza will never forget Sunday, October 8th, 2023. It was undoubtedly the most significant night of his young career so far, as the 22-year-old scored both of Granada CF's goals in the Andalusian club's 2-2 draw against FC Barcelona, before he learned that he had been called up by Luis de la Fuente to the Spanish national team squad to replace the injured Yeremy Pino.
It is often said that good things come to those who wait, but Zaragoza clearly doesn't believe in that mantra, as he set out with urgency and purpose from the first whistle of Granada CF's Matchday 9 fixture. With the world watching on, the winger took the game by the scruff of the neck as he opened the scoring after just 17 seconds and with his first touch, firing a powerful shot past Marc-André ter Stegen.
In the 27th minute, he made it 2-0 by collecting the ball on the left wing and dribbling this way and that way to free himself from Jules Koundé, before poking the ball past Ter Stegen for the second time with the most confident finish. Although Barça fought back and earned a 2-2 draw, this was still a special night for the home fans at the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes and Zaragoza was the main man.
Throughout the game, he gave the FC Barcelona defenders headaches. As Zaragoza explained when speaking to the press after the match: “The Barça players congratulated me, and they also told me during the match to stop running!"
Zaragoza, though, was never going to stop running. His game is all about dribbling and he has stated that he watches a lot of Real Madrid's Vinícius, widely considered to be the best dribbler in the game right now, to try to learn from the Brazilian. It is working, as Zaragoza currently leads LALIGA EA SPORTS for successful dribbles per game, with 3.1.
Explaining his of play in a post-match interview with DAZN, he said: “I play to dribble. I don't play to run after the ball or for anything else. I've been a street footballer since I was a kid, playing all my life on the streets, and this is what I play for."
The streets where Zaragoza grew up were the streets of La Palmilla, a neighbourhood of Málaga, but he spent most of his formative years at Granada CF. In the 2020/21 season, he went out on loan to CP El Ejido to gain experience, before returning and working his way into the Granada CF first team. It was towards the end of 2022/23 when the winger really exploded onto the scene and his three goals in the final three matches of last season were decisive in helping the club win the LALIGA HYPERMOTION title and secure promotion.
After coming up to Spain's top tier, Zaragoza has continued to grow and already has five goals and one assist. In every match this season where Granada CF have secured at least a point, Zaragoza has either scored or assisted, highlighting how important he has been.
Now, he'll look to make an impact with the Spanish national team, having travelled to Madrid on Monday morning to join up with the best players of the country. On Sunday morning, such a scenario was just a dream for Zaragoza. But his Sunday night performance has now propelled him to a whole new level.
