No one reacted to Spain’s round-of-32 victory quite like Keyne. When the third goal against Austria went in, cameras captured Lamine Yamal’s younger brother, still only three years old, throwing his arms up and shouting: “Come on!” And just like that, a million memes were born in Los Angeles.
Shortly after, 30 metres below ground – the Los Angeles Stadium had to be excavated beneath the surface because it sits so close to LAX airport – Lamine Yamal stood on a platform before a huddle of cameras, microphones and phones. Someone in the crowd showed him the clip, asked how he felt watching this little boy enjoy a childhood he himself was never able to have, and there was a pause. “I don’t know …” Lamine Yamal said eventually. “It makes me emotional to see my brother happy, and my mum. He means everything to me. It’s like he’s my son and I adore him.”
Lamine Yamal is just 18, but he has said before that he has shouldered “too much” responsibility for almost as long as he can remember. In a recent interview with El País, he mentioned first feeling something like fame, or exposure, when he was 13. At the start of this tournament a video circulated showing him walking around a Walmart. A big deal was made of it, perhaps too big a deal, and you wouldn’t be mistaken for thinking so, but it wasn’t without significance. It mattered, and to him especially: a scarce chance to do something ordinary. Or not quite: the video emerged, which spoke volumes too.
Even here, among the finest players on the planet, there may be no one quite like Lamine Yamal. A symbol at 18, his likeness is everywhere, a profound connection to him. In every stadium, every time he receives the ball there’s a roar, a sense of expectation – and along with it a certain duty. It’s as if he eclipses everything else, and within the Spain camp that feeling is even stronger.
In the lead-up to the World Cup, it seemed as though everyone was waiting for him to return from the injury that had sidelined him since April; during the tournament, it has often felt like his teammates take their lead from him. Lamine Yamal had stated that the group stage was merely something you have to get through; the real contest begins now, in the knockout rounds. He had also mentioned that he had “used” those matches to rediscover his own rhythm. If Spain could play like Spain, he said, no one else is as good. And on the day he declared the World Cup truly begins, that proved to be the case.
He wasn’t the only one. Across the pitch Spain shone. The full-backs surged forward. Dani Olmo found pockets of space. Luis de la Fuente keeps urging us to discuss Mikel Oyarzabal, and with good reason. But sometimes it feels like it always comes back to Lamine Yamal, another weight on his shoulders. The messaging seems to be his domain too. After he stated late on Tuesday night that no one could rival Spain, his teammates echoed the same idea at training in Carso the next morning. And then the following day, against Austria, they demonstrated it. “Almost perfect,” was how Luis de la Fuente described it.
Before the match he had taken the mascot’s hand and asked if they were alright. Standing in the tunnel, Olmo had told his “bro” to show his mascot what it’s like when he steps into an arena, the reception he draws, the effect he has on people. And afterwards, Lamine Yamal stood there clutching the player of the match award. He had been a thrilling, energetic, relentless force who had drawn gasps with some of his touches, including two nutmegs, and had a fierce contest with Konrad Laimer, yet even he didn’t seem entirely convinced this award was meant for him. At one stage he was even asked if he was content, given he didn’t appear totally elated.
“Obviously, yes,” he replied. “I’m very happy, most of all because we’ve advanced. Little by little, I’m finding my sensations again, getting the runs I need, the dribbles. This is where it starts: nobody wants to go home now and we’ll do everything we can to prevent that. I’m 100 per cent ready to play however many minutes the coach wants.” And that, as De la Fuente often remarks, is the best possible update.
“I really value the warmth I receive in every stadium,” Lamine Yamal added. “In football there’s nothing superior to a World Cup, and when a kid dreams of playing football, they dream of this. I savour every moment, right from when we leave the hotel. I’m 18 years old and at a World Cup; this won’t happen again. We don’t fear any opponent; we’re Spain. We believe in ourselves.”
And how, he was asked, do you prevent all this from getting to you? “By concentrating on playing football and spending a great deal of time with my family,” he said. “They’re the only ones who know me simply as Lamine, as who I am.”
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