At 16, he has already put Europe, and a few defenders, at his feet: Spanish prodigy Lamine Yamal continues his rise to the summits of world football at Euro-2024, setting new precocity records in the process.
With his childish smile, his braces, his golden curls and especially his velvet left foot, Lamine Yamal, not yet 17, has won everyone over with a refreshing insouciance.
The secret ? “He plays without pressure and he has fun,” sums up his teammate Pedri.
Born to a Moroccan father and an Equatoguinean mother, Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest player to play a match at a Euro, walks the German lawns as he used to walk, for entire afternoons, on the asphalt of his neighborhood from Rocafonda (Catalonia), to which he dedicates each of his goals by forming the number 304, the last three digits of his postal code, with his fingers.
“He is a unique and special player. The fact that at 16 years old he is the leader of FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team at the Euro speaks for itself”, summarizes David Villa, top scorer of the history of Spain, in Mundo Deportivo, believing that the talent of the young winger had “no limit”.
Breaking one by one the records of precocity (youngest player in the history of FC Barcelona, of the Spanish selection, of the elimination phase of the Champions League…), Lamine Yamal is now the favorite for the Golden Boy trophy, rewarding the best hope in the world, after an exceptional season where he carried Barça on his shoulders (50 matches, 7 goals, 10 assists).
Messianic
Unstoppable on his right wing, where he has settled in both club and national team without discussion, Yamal provokes, dribbles, strikes, without asking questions and makes his opponents dizzy with feints and sharp hooks.
“As soon as I take the ball, if I see that I am in a one-on-one situation, I will always provoke the full-back because in the end it is a very psychological game and as soon as I escape him once, he is even more afraid and then I improvise everything that comes to mind,” he explains in an interview with the daily Marca.
Qualities, and an ability to get on his left foot to curl or cross to the opposite, which recall those of his idol… Lionel Messi.
“He’s the best player in history and it’s incredible to be compared to him, but that’s irrelevant. Nobody can compare to him, especially not me, who just started. J “I would like to have half of his career,” the Catalan left-hander replied to Onda Cero radio.
At Barça, which has reinforced its contract until 2026 with a clause worth one billion euros and claims to reject the incredible offers from the biggest European clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain, Yamal is in any case following in the footsteps of the Argentinian – he is even doing better than the latter at his age – and could even recover his number 10 as early as next season.
Before that, he has a date with history in Germany, where he could become on Sunday in the round of 16 against Georgia, the team against which he scored his first goal with La Roja at the end of 2023 (7-1), the youngest scorer in the history of a European championship.
