How Lamine Yamal, baptized by Messi, silenced Rabiot with a stunner to become youngest goal scorer at Euros

It was fitting that Adrien Rabiot stood right in front of him before Lamine Yamal pulled the trigger from 27 yards out of goal to become the youngest goalscorer in Euros history. Ahead of their semi-final meeting, the Frenchman was asked of his take on the 16-year-old everyone is talking about at these Euros. “He has a lot of qualities. He is capable of playing with his qualities at club level as well as in major tournaments, without pressure.” Rabiot could’ve stopped there, ended it as just another dull, emotionless praise for an opposition player. But perhaps tired of the early days fanboying around Spain’s star boy, he flicked a switch. “To play in a Euro final, he will have to do more than he has so far.”

What had Yamal done until the semis? Legitimize the right flank as his own, offer a pacy outlet on the wings, who could take defenders head on without skipping a beat, and carve out openings for his teammates. In five games he had three assists.

Lamine Yamal makes it 1️⃣-1️⃣ for Spain with a 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗘 against France 🚀

Watch the teenager light up the big stage now, on the #SonySportsNetwork 📺#ESPFRA #EURO2024 | @EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/Bmvtj5x7N9

— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) July 9, 2024

The only thing left for him to do as an attacking player was to score. So it was only fair that when he did so on Tuesday, Rabiot stood the closest to him, gazing the ball curl around him all the way into the French net. In his defense, there wasn’t much he could do to stop it.

This wasn’t your average hit-with-force outside the box goal. The speed gun reading of 102 km/h is likely to mislead you. No, this was more complex, made possible with subtle yet effective details well beyond the years of a 16-year-old. Gaining control of the ball in the inward-right channel outside the France box, Yamal tricked a neat feint – swaying outside only to cut back in – before unfurling a gorgeous curler in the top bin. We’ll come to the shot later, but first let’s rewatch that switching of the feet.

At the precise point Yamal receives the ball, two French shirts and his own captain, Alvaro Morata is blocking his path to the goal. He understands that he needs to buy more time and space before having a go. However, the inward-right channel offers the best angular advantage to a left-footed striker. It is most likely to have been the thought behind his zero displacement move. The cut back in is a sharp one that takes Rabiot, his marker, out of the equation and buys him the second and space he needs.

REBORN 🐐🌟 pic.twitter.com/qGzBhu0Hlq

— Lamine Yamal 🇪🇸 (@LamineeYamal) July 9, 2024

Now the shot. The speed is a decisive factor but not as much as the dip and the swerve. Pause the video just as Yamal wraps his foot around the ball. France goalkeeper Mike Maignan is stationed a good three yards out of the goal line. The ball dipping in from over the six foot two goalkeeper’s reach into the goal behind – coupled with the curl in from outside the goal frame – made it nigh impossible to get a hand on, let alone stop. A stunner, and Spain have a way back into the game after trailing in the early minutes.

The left-footed finish was bound to make the social media go gaga. All through the Euros one photo of Yamal has been doing rounds. From back when he was just six months old. A baby Yamal, seated in a bathtub, smiles as he’s being bathed by his mother, and one Lionel Messi. The photo is from a calendar shoot, but one that’s come to be interpreted by the Spanish media and fans as a baptism ritual. A blessing from his godfather. Yamal’s father himself declared it as much as he posted a photoshopped image on his Instagram minutes after his son’s heroics guided Spain to their first Euro final since 2012. In it, Yamal Jr. dressed in full Spanish kit, lies down on his cradle with Messi standing by his side and their calendar image taped by the Spaniard’s pillow.

The frame is likely to follow Yamal and his best moments in Spain and – more notably – Barcelona shirt. On Tuesday, he etched past the opposition captain Kylian Mbappe and one Pele to become the youngest scorer in a Euros or World Cup match. For reference, Mbappe was 19 years and 183 days old when he scored his first goal at a major international tournament. Pele was 17 years and 239 days. Yamal is still three days short of turning 17. Just before he plays the Euro final. Safe to say, he’s done more than any 16-year-old has to get there. Rabiot would agree.

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