Thiago bringing a buzz to Spain

Luis Milla makes a virtue out of the collective and seldom singles out individuals for praise. Which is just as well when your team are functioning as smoothly as Spain have been at this UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Yet one player who arguably does merit a special mention is Thiago Alcántara, the pivot of the Spanish attacking unit. Operating ahead of central midfield duo Javi Martínez and Ander Herrera, behind the three-goal forward Adrián López and – for the last two group games – with Juan Mata and Iker Muniain providing width on either side, Thiago has led Spain's charge to the semi-finals in Denmark.

Such acclaim is incontestable when you examine the goals that rubber-stamped Spain's first place in Group B. After Mata's early breakthrough, slightly built playmaker Thiago skipped through the Ukraine midfield before splitting the defence with a pass that begged Martín Montoya to cross for Adrián to finish. The light-footed FC Barcelona player later supplied the bespoke pass for Mata to win a penalty which the latter converted.

Factor in the corner that led to Ander Herrera's opener against England, and you understand the value of the nimble No19. He prefers to play it down, though. "I am proud of this team, of the progress we are making," said Thiago, who during the last season made 12 Liga appearances for Barcelona, enjoyed a UEFA Champions League debut against FC Rubin Kazan in December, and helped Barça B finish third in Spain's second division. "The boys here make your job so much easier. I am happy to be playing for this team."

The 20-year-old might easily have been wearing the Brazil or Italy shirt had his father's career taken a different course. The son of 1994 FIFA World Cup winner Mazinho, Thiago was born in Bari, southern Italy, during his dad's time at US Lecce. When the defensive midfielder moved to Spain – playing for Valencia CF, RC Celta de Vigo and Elche CF – he brought his family with him. Thiago eventually ended up at Barcelona along with younger brother Rafinha, now 18 and also with Barcelona B. A Spain call-up was the natural corollary to his emergence – he broke into the U17 side in 2007 – and he took his Liga bow with Barça against RCD Mallorca in May 2009.

With the next obvious milestone being to land the U21 title in Jutland, it can only benefit Spain that Thiago has travelled along a similar road before – winning the European U17 crown in 2008, when he scored in the Spaniards' 4-0 final triumph over France in Turkey. "I don't think Belarus will be easy opponents," he said of his country's semi-final rivals. "They have done well to qualify and even better to get to the last four." Coach Milla might not wish to admit it, but he could yet do with a sprinkling of Thiago stardust in Viborg on Wednesday.