Spain attacker Lamine Yamal is set to break a long-standing record set by Pele in Sunday’s Euro 2024 final against England at the Olympiastadion.
Spain attacker Lamine Yamal is on course to break a long-standing record set by Pele in Sunday’s Euro 2024 final against England at the Olympastadion in Berlin.
The Barcelona prodigy has been lighting up stadiums across Germany with performances well beyond his years over the past few weeks, and he has already written a few pages of competition history.
By starting La Roja’s opening game against Croatia, Yamal became the youngest man to play at the European Championships, where he has formed an attacking trident with Nico Williams and Alvaro Morata.
Yamal set up a goal for Dani Carvajal in La Roja’s opening game and has since added two more assists to his tally, providing the final pass for Fabian Ruiz against Georgia and Dani Olmo against Germany.
In doing so, the 17-year-old became the first-ever teenager to set up three goals at one edition of the European Championships, but the strike that he craved eluded him, until La Roja met Spain in the semi-finals.
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Yamal to become youngest player in World Cup/Euros final
After Randal Kolo Muani headed home Les Bleus’ opener, Yamal equalised with a beautiful long-range curler, thereby becoming the youngest player in history to score at the European Championships.
Yamal’s stunner preceded an Olmo winner as Spain completed another terrific turnaround at the Euros, and the Barcelona winger is nailed-on to start Sunday’s showpiece in Berlin.
In doing so, the 17-year-old – who only celebrated his birthday on Saturday – will become the youngest man in history to play in the final of a World Cup or European Championships.
The late Pele has held that record for a staggering 66 years, having been 17 years and 249 days old when he turned out for Brazil in the final of the 1958 World Cup against Sweden.
Yamal’s feats have unsurprisingly led to a plethora of plaudits for the La Masia graduate, whom England midfielder Declan Rice has claimed is “on another level” ahead of Sunday’s tantalising final.
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Gareth Southgate delivers Yamal verdict
Three Lions boss Southgate was also asked about the exploits of Yamal and fellow attacker Williams, who is thought to have caught the eye of Barcelona, Arsenal and Liverpool with his performances for club and country recently.
The 53-year-old – who could alternatively make unwanted history if England lose Sunday’s final – hailed the wingers’ ‘massive’ contributions to Spain’s successful Euros campaign while also highlighting England’s shorter recovery period from their semi-final exploits.
“They both look like very good talents. They work for the team and are making their team a bit more direct than the Spanish teams in the past. They have contributed massively. We have one less day of recovery so we need to be more efficient, more focused and recover better,” Southgate told reporters.
Yamal is set to come face-to-face with fellow teenager Kobbie Mainoo in Berlin after the 19-year-old Manchester United man became the youngest Englishman to start a major tournament semi-final in the Three Lions’ dramatic beating of the Netherlands.
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