Spain coach Luis de la Fuente says seeing 16-year-old winger Lamine Yamal’s performance against France in their Euro 2024 semifinal triumph was like watching “a genius”.
Yamal scored a brilliant goal to cancel out Randal Kolo Muani’s opener for Les Bleus, with Dani Olmo then netting what proved to be the winner for Spain.
Named Player of the Match, Yamal became the youngest-ever Euros goalscorer and De la Fuente says: “We have seen a genius, the product of a genius.
“He’s a player we have to take care of – I have to give him the advice to keep working with the same humility and keep his feet on the floor.
“He would keep growing but this maturity and attitude at such a young age is like that of a more experienced player.
“We are lucky he is Spanish and we can enjoy him for many more years [to come].”
Yamal became the competition’s youngest player in Spain’s first match against Croatia and also provided three assists on his team’s run to the final.
Spain will face England or the Netherlands, who played last night, in the Berlin final this Sunday, a day after Yamal’s 17th birthday.
Meanwhile, France’s Kylian Mbappe was a broken man after the match.
Mbappe was perhaps the biggest disappointment of Les Bleus’ tournament, contributing only a penalty and an assist and says: “The competition was a failure. I wanted to be European champion but we’re not.
“It’s football. We have to move on. We’re going home, it's simple...”