Wonderkid Yamal ready to lead young Spain

MADRID, June 3 (Reuters) – Spain has become one of European football’s most fertile grounds for producing world-class players who are breaking through at increasingly younger ages, with Barcelona’s 16-year-old winger Lamine Yamal the latest to make headlines and ready to shine at Euro 2024.

Following in the footsteps of Barca academy teenage sensations Pedri, Gavi and Ansu Fati, Yamal has established himself as a key part of Barca’s forward line and is expected to be highly influential at the tournament.

Yamal turns 17 a day before the final as Spain braces for the challenge of a much-anticipated Group B showdown in the so-called “Group of Death”, alongside Croatia, European champions Italy and surprise package Albania in Germany.

Spain is relying on young players trying to rise from the shadows of a golden generation that enjoyed a historic six-year spell, winning back-to-back European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while winning the country’s first World Cup in 2010 won.

Pedri played a key role in Spain’s run to the semi-finals of the last European Championship and, along with his club performances, won the 2021 Golden Boy and Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best player under the age of 21.

He was followed by his teammate Gavi, who won the two trophies the following year and was Spain’s darling at Qatar 2022, where he became the youngest World Cup scorer since Pele in 1958 after helping his side beat Costa Rica 7-0 defeat.

But Yamal emerged from Barca’s La Masia academy and broke several records in 2023, some of which belonged to Gavi, including becoming Barcelona’s youngest debutant in an official match and Spain’s youngest international and goalscorer at the age of 16.

Yamal has flourished under Spanish manager Luis de la Fuente, who has experience with young players after a decade in the federation’s grassroots teams (RFEF), winning the European Championship with Under-19s in 2015 and Under-21s in 2019.

De la Fuente was willing to give opportunities to young people. He recently called up Barca’s 17-year-old defender Pau Cubarsi and relied on Athletic Bilbao’s 21-year-old winger Nico Williams alongside Yamal, giving Spain an electric duo up front.

“This kind of footballer is a special breed,” De la Fuente told Reuters in an interview. “It’s unusual for a 16-year-old boy to have that kind of confidence, the ability to play and look like a veteran. Because only the chosen few have that.

“I am not surprised by their potential and I think that we coaches have to give them the opportunity, balance, security and stability and help them to enjoy the moment, be responsible and use their talent, that super talent that they have. at the service of the collective, so that the entire team grows and flourishes.”

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