Lamine Yamal shines at EURO 2024: The day the prodigy surpassed Pele
Lamine Yamal scored a historic goal at EURO 2024, helping Spain win tickets to the final and break the records of Football King Pele.
1. From Jesus Navas to Lamine Yamal, the night of July 9 was the time when Spanish players broke records in Munich, in the EURO 2024 semi-finals.
While Navas surpasses Fritz Walter and Gunnar Gren in being the oldest, Lamine erases the mark of early maturity of the most famous football star in history: King Pele.
Lamine was the star of the semi-final match Spain 2-1 France
On November 14, 2009, Jesus Navas made his Spanish debut in Madrid. It was a friendly match with Argentina led by Diego Maradona and leader Lionel Messi. At that time, “La Roja” had just won the European championship and was about to reach the roof of the world in South Africa.
Two years earlier, on July 13, 2007, Lamine Yamal was born in Barcelona. Together, the two went to Bayern Munich’s legendary Allianz Arena, played against the powerful French team with the famous Kylian Mbappe, and became the owners of new records.
Jesus Navas, 38 years and 231 days old, is the oldest football player (excluding goalkeeper) to compete in a EURO or World Cup semi-final. He overcame Fritz Walter (Germany) and Gunnar Gren (Sweden), both aged 37 years and 236 days, who faced each other in the 1958 World Cup semi-final.
That World Cup took place in Sweden, where the legend of Pele was born. At the age of 17 years and 244 days, he was the youngest person to appear in the semi-finals of a major tournament. The opponent of “Canarinha” is France.
The record of a person who won three World Cups (1958, 1962, 1970) has just been broken by Lamine Yamal: 16 years and 362 days.
2. There is an interesting coincidence: France is also the opponent that Lamine Yamal faced on the historic day, when he and Spain walked on the dream path to the EURO title.
In the present tense by Lamine Yamal: only football. Of course, there are many more records waiting for him to conquer.
If memories are often mentioned in football, then Lamine’s relatives recall the past in Spain U17 just over a year ago.
On May 30 last year, in the U17 European semi-finals against France, Lamine dribbled the ball from the right wing to the middle, took a left-footed shot, took the ball in a curve and then stuck it straight into the top corner.
That moment was Lamine’s 8th and final goal for U17. Although Spain lost 1-3, Yamal co-owned the top scorer title and was included in the typical team.
Lamine Yamal seems to have mastered time, with amazing maturity. In just over a year, he jumped from the U17 European semi-finals to the EURO semi-finals with the Spanish national team.
To celebrate the special milestone, Lamine had no better idea than to recreate his goal with the U17 team, from 879 spectators in Hungary to 62,042 viewers in Munich.
This time, the ball went a little further, slightly touching the inside edge of the post before entering the net. The golden goal sparked a comeback for Spain, with a result of 2-1.
By chance, another record was conquered: Lamine became the youngest player to score in a major tournament. Pele’s old record was once again pushed to second – 17 years and 239 days, in the 1958 World Cup quarter-final win over Wales 1-0.
3. Adrien Rabiot was the direct victim of Lamine’s masterpiece moment. He did not learn a lesson from host Germany in the quarterfinals.
Before the quarterfinals, “Mannschaft” did not appreciate Lamine.”He has no experience in dueling at this level,” Julian Nagelsmann spoke up.
Lamine turned Rabiot into a clown before finishing
Preparing for the semi-finals of EURO 2024, Rabiot expressed his attitude: “If Lamine Yamal wants to participate in the final, he will have to do more than what he has done so far.”
Lamine remained silent against Germany, when the match had not yet started and after assisting Dani Olmo’s goal. This time he spoke out on social networks.
“Stay silent, only speak when it’s time to speak: checkmate,” Lamine posted on his Instagram. He also spoke up on the field with the ball that made Rabiot an apprentice.
Playing on the right wing with Navas, Lamine reduces pressure on the defense with very annoying attacks. When needed, he also drops very low to mark Mbappe, or commits a foul to prevent the opponent from counterattacking.
Lamine Yamal was honored with the best player award against France. The story of a genius is still continuing with each fascinating chapter, after surpassing Pele’s historical milestones.