When asked if Spain would win the World Cup, Lamine Yamal simply smiled and said “yes”.
His words to American broadcaster CBS in the build-up would have come as a surprise to no-one who has seen the confident teenager become one of the best players on the planet.
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For many though, for his prediction to come true, Lamine Yamal was going to have to set the tournament alight in his first ever World Cup.
So far, that has just not happened.
The 19-year-old has scored one goal and has not made an assist, but his country have cruised into the final anyway and will face Argentina on Sunday.
While the likes of fellow superstars Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland have had starring roles, Lamine Yamal’s World Cup has been surprisingly understated.
But could this be his moment?
Lamine Yamal’s stats for Spain are incredible. He has yet to lose for his country in the 27 competitive matches he has played. He has started 12 games at major tournaments for Spain and won all of them, the longest 100%-win rate of any European player across major tournaments when starting.
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If he scores in New York on Sunday he will become just the third teenager to find the net in a World Cup final, after Pele in 1950 and Mbappe in 2018.
Win the tournament and he becomes just the fourth teenager to ever start a World Cup final and win the trophy, after Pele, Mbappe and Italy’s Giuseppe Bergomi in 1982. Nineteen-year-old team-mate Pau Cubarsi could become the fifth.
“No-one will care whether Lamine has scored lots of goals and created lots of goals,” said one Spain fan. “If he wins the World Cup with Spain, he will be a legend forever.
“If we lose to Argentina, no-one will remember his first World Cup. We know he will have lots of other World Cups and we believe he will become the greatest.
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“But not many teenagers get the chance to win a World Cup. This is his chance. He will have regrets if we lose and he hasn’t been able to play his best.”
Most World Cup dribbles but no assists
So has the Barcelona youngster’s tournament really been that bad? No.
Coming into the tournament with an injury, Lamine Yamal started it on the bench and was unable to help unlock Cape Verde’s defence when he was introduced as a substitute in their goalless opener.
He started the next game, scoring 10 minutes into his full World Cup debut and – with the game in the bag – was withdrawn at half-time as Spain continued to nurse him back from injury.
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Since then, he has started every match as Spain cruised through the rounds and cruised past favourites France to reach just their second World Cup final.
“Obviously I want to score but I don’t go on to the pitch thinking about that. I do it thinking about helping the team,” said Lamine Yamal.
“If we win the World Cup, no-one will remember whether I scored goals… the important thing is winning.
“I know I can contribute even if I don’t score. I know my movements draw in many opponents so I do everything I can to help the team.”
He has undoubtedly still been a threat.
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Lamine Yamal has attempted 49 dribbles, at least seven more than any other player at the tournament, and has completed 22 of those dribbles, at least six more than any other player apart from Messi (25).
Before Spain’s impressive semi-final win over France, midfielder Rodri said he felt Lamine Yamal was playing with too much anxiety.
“I think he needs to calm down a bit, that anxiety that sometimes he has to prove himself,” he said. “He’s a very important player for us because of what he does with and without the ball, and he’s a very intelligent guy.
“It’s true that he’s 19 years old and that we have to calm him down at certain moments of the game.”
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The passing of the baton
You can’t talk about Lamine Yamal without mentioning Messi. Especially not with the two going head to head in Sunday’s final.
We all know the story by now of the duo’s first meeting almost 20 years ago, when a five-month-old Lamine Yamal was pictured being bathed by a 20-year-old Messi for a competition photoshoot.
The comparisons to Messi are inevitable and the stats suggest Lamine Yamal is on his way to becoming a worthy heir to the player many consider the greatest ever.
He has already played in a Champions League semi-final, won a European Championship and he has been given the number 10 shirt at Barcelona that Messi wore for almost 15 years.
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At just 19, he has played 151 times for Barcelona. By the time Messi reached his 19th birthday on 24 June 2006, he had made just 41 top-flight appearances for the club.
He is no longer a prodigy. Already on the scene for four years, Lamine Yamal is an established star.
He doesn’t need a World Cup win to cement his greatness – after all, Messi’s first didn’t come until he was 35. But he will want one.
Manager Luis de la Fuente tries to silence the Messi comparisons.
“The worst mistake would be to compare him to Messi and Maradona,” he said. “He is the midst of a process.
“He has great serenity and strength. Those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dali or Michelangelo.
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“They’re different. What is exceptional to us isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.”
Much of the narrative on Sunday is around whether Messi can win his second World Cup at the age of 39. If it goes in Spain’s favour though, it could be the moment the baton is passed to Lamine Yamal.
Inside Lamine Yamal’s World Cup
Lamine Yamal is a superstar. I saw the two friends he feels at ease with and who go with him everywhere and even they were treated like superstars by about 200 people waiting for the players outside their hotel.
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So was Sheila, his mother, and he loves that because he’s given his mother everything she didn’t have.
Also, everyone has fallen in love with Keyne, his little brother, with whom Lamine has a great relationship. He is loving the whole experience and loving that his family is enjoying it too.
It hasn’t all been easy. Two or three days ago, people tried to break into his house back in Catalonia, Spain. They realised there were security cameras and ran away.
Lamine isn’t 100% fit and he hasn’t been at his best. But he wants to show you how good he is.
He always says the first thing he wants to recover when he’s on the pitch is the feeling he had when playing on the concrete pitch in Rocafonda, a working-class neighbourhood in Mataro, Spain.
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He would do something there and the people that were half-watching the game sitting in the stands would just stand up and clap and that is the feeling he wants to reproduce – so that’s how he plays.
He’s been invited by the team to actually try whatever he wants but also to be intelligent.
I think he’s improved on that in the semi-final against France and he worked very hard defensively too, so he’s been praised by the team.
Everybody says he’s the only one able to win games by himself – but we haven’t needed him to… yet.
Read the full article here
