Lamine Yamal continues to light up Euro 2024. The precocious teenager was as lively and effervescent as ever in Spain’s last-16 clash against Georgia, gliding past players with ease and setting up Fabian Ruiz for La Roja’s second goal.
Such precociousness from the 16-year-old will only add to the hype surrounding him at this summer’s tournament. The Barcelona youngster is playing with the kind of confidence and self-assurance of someone twice his age.
And Yamal is now matching the numbers set by some of the best European teenagers of yesteryear. Most notably, he is now being mentioned in the same breath as Cristiano Ronaldo.
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That’s because Yamal, with his superb cross for Ruiz, became the first teenager to get multiple assists at a European Championship since Ronaldo at Euro 2004. The latter ended that tournament with two assists, and you’d expect Yamal to surpass that with potentially three games still to play.
He might feel disappointed not to have scored, too, having had several good chances against a Georgia side that tired towards the end in Cologne. But more opportunities are likely to come for the winger, whose opposite number Nico Williams also excelled.
In an amusing quirk, Spain brought on Jesus Navas in the second half. The Sevilla veteran will be 40 next year and is 22 years older than Yamal, who only turns 17 in July. Scary stuff.
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