Like a student who leaves an exam with the feeling of having gotten a good grade, Lamine Yamal left Wembley Stadium with a smile from ear to ear. The Rocafonda star walked through the bowels of the stadium with a pizza in his hand and exuding satisfaction and tranquility. If the duel against England was to serve as a thermometer to measure his aspirations for the Ballon d'Or against one of his great rivals in the race, Golden Boot winner Harry Kane, things had gone very well. Lamine had felt comfortable from the first minute on the green of the cathedral and had left his mark on a legendary stadium. The English suffered him again.
Yamal was the only forward who kept his place in the eleven compared to those who played in the World Cup. De la Fuente changed his teammates against England, with Ferran Torres as forward -instead of Oyarzábal- and Nico Williams on the left -instead of Baena-, perhaps aspiring to repeat the chemistry that the two young wingers demonstrated during the last Euro Cup. The bet did not end up going well for the coach because the Valencian striker had his sights diverted and the Athletic winger was far below what was expected. Lamine, on the other hand, not only maintained the level, he had moments in which he showed himself and silenced Wembley, frightened by his antics.
In just one hundred seconds, the Barça magician had already left his mark on one of the temples of European football. He detected that Guehi was not very comfortable with the ball, he approached him and as soon as the English center back made a mistake he stole it, faced Trafford and scored. He scored in the cathedral, adding pages to his resume. A goal that came from Lamine's hunger for success and also from his involvement in pressure and defensive work. The one from Rocafonda was seen covering on his wing throughout the game, being several times on the side of his own area blocking possible crosses from O'Reilly, which ended with nightmares. This commitment was also confirmed at a statistical level. According to official statistics, Lamine ran 9.7 kilometers during the match, more than Gordon (9.5) or Harry Kane (9.1). He also won that match. "The coach puts a lot of pressure on us to press and I'm always trying to help the team. Sometimes I get lost, but other times I steal and I can stay alone against the goalkeeper and score," he admitted after the duel.
Lamine's statistical sheet went far beyond his physical effort and the goal scored. He was very good with the ball, giving 74 passes with an 87% success rate. In addition, he was able to generate four scoring chances, one with a precise pass to Ferran Torres, who failed to finish against Trafford, and another, with an improbable pass with his heel, after which Dani Olmo touched the goal.
The Barça star has never hidden his desire to win his first Ballon d'Or. In fact, in recent weeks he has proclaimed it loudly every time he has had a microphone in front of him. And it did not escape him that the game in England was his last match before the voting closed, this Monday, before the name of the winner is made public on October 26, coincidentally also in London. He did not miss the opportunity. And his companions surrendered to him. "With Lamine you just have to sit in front of the television and enjoy. Without a doubt, I would give him the Ballon d'Or, and behind him to Rodri, Messi and Fabián," said Álex Baena, the great architect of Spain's victory at Wembley with his emergence in the second half. Rafael Louzán, president of the federation, supported the theory and also claimed the award for the young footballer from Rocafonda. Louzán also confessed a little secret in the mixed zone and revealed that his colleague Debbie Hewitt, the president of the English federation, also saw Lamine as the winner of the Ballon d'Or.
Debates on the sidelines, even more so now that the voting period for the award is finally closed, Lamine must enter De la Fuente's rotation program for Spain's next commitments. The coach was already publicly speaking out against the change in the calendar, complaining that during this break he must face four games almost without rest and with trips in between, which will force him to have to make quite a few changes to his lineups in order to take care of his players. In fact, the world champion travels again this Monday to Seville, where on Tuesday she will host Croatia at the Pizjuán. A duel in which it seems difficult that, unlike what happened in the World Cup, De la Fuente can repeat eleven given the accumulation of minutes in the legs of his players.
