It’s time to discuss Mikel Oyarzabal. After Spain netted their third goal against Austria in Los Angeles, cameras captured Lamine Yamal’s younger brother celebrating, fists clenched and shouting “come on!”. The image could hardly have been more flawless, and not merely because Keyne is impossibly cute. Even the apparent flaw was just right. In the row beneath, applauding and half-concealing the three-year-old, sat a woman in sunglasses, leading a Spanish television commentator to tweet: “The blonde in front has robbed us of the greatest sticker of all time.” To which the striker Borja Iglesias replied: “The blonde in front delivered you two goals today, my friend.”
As it happens, the blonde woman is Oyarzabal’s mother: her name is Dorleta, and her son had just scored his second goal of the game and his fourth of the tournament. Two days later, after the Selección had completed their first training session in Dallas, Marca asked Oyarzabal if he had seen the footage.
“Yes,” he replied, “[Keyne] is practically an icon in his own right, considering everything that’s unfolded these last few years and the significance Lamine carries.” The unlike me part was left unsaid; with Oyarzabal, most things are. He’s no icon and would rather not be one. People generally don’t discuss him, and that suits him perfectly.
Nevertheless, things are shifting. Goals shift the narrative; and Oyarzabal has been scoring plenty of them lately. A coach’s advocacy can help as well, with Luis de la Fuente trying to set things right. At the press conference ahead of the Uruguay match, when a question mentioned Oyarzabal’s name, Spain’s manager pounced on the opportunity, began his reply by saying “thank you,” and drew focus to his No 21. A few minutes later another question came, this time directly about the Real Sociedad forward, and De la Fuente closed his answer by once again saying “thank you,” thankful that some small justice was being served.
“You brought up Mikel Oyarzabal: finally, finally, we’re beginning to appreciate him in Spain. Madre mia! Finally,” Spain’s coach had started. Oyarzabal, he added, is “a great among greats,” and that’s accurate: the top six names on the World Cup scoring chart are Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, the Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembélé, and Oyarzabal. Five superstars and … well, him.
The whole “underrated player” discourse can be overdone—a weary cliché. Recognition usually comes for a reason, occasionally the right one, and a lack of fanfare isn’t necessarily a flaw. At times, being underrated even morphs into a way of overrating a player, another attribute to factor in. But with Oyarzabal, there’s some truth to it. He’s 29 and until lately he was seldom discussed, certainly beyond San Sebastián, where he captains Real Sociedad.
Mikel Oyarzabal nets the first of his two goals for Spain against Saudi Arabia. Photograph: Quality Sport Images/Getty Images
That partly explains it. Oyarzabal has claimed two Copa del Rey trophies with la Real — half of all the cups they’ve ever won — and he scored in both finals. But this is la Real, so there’s no media backing and limited chances to win. There has been no transfer speculation to generate attention, which is interesting in itself: Oyarzabal came through Real Sociedad’s academy, his release clause is merely €75m — lesser players have moved for much more — yet there have barely been any rumours. Partly because Oyarzabal, who has no agent and is content at home, has never encouraged them.
That’s his style; if he hasn’t been sold, he has never sold himself. After the Austria match he was asked how it felt to be alongside Mbappé and Messi. “I don’t care,” he said, and he genuinely meant it. He has a knack for deadpan delivery, untroubled by the buzz. There isn’t the slightest trace of arrogance. Asked how it felt that an AI search for the best strikers produced Mbappé, Kane and Haaland but not him, he replied: “Well, they are the best.”
Oyarzabal says one of his tasks as a forward is to stay out of the way. That’s not false modesty; it’s genuine analysis. It may also be one reason he hasn’t always been noticed: he doesn’t seek the spotlight, off the pitch or on it. Quiet and unassuming in appearance, doing everything without fuss, he isn’t big or quick, he doesn’t dribble past opponents, hit thunderbolts from 40 yards, or feel the need to be involved just for the sake of it, to demand the ball; he doesn’t have an obvious checklist of immediately striking qualities. There’s something more intangible about his game, more about timing and reading the play, working for others.
“Ever since I was a kid I’ve tried to understand the game and why things unfold,” he says. “I’ve learned that by not intruding you can be useful. There are moments when, just through positioning, you can assist the team without even touching the ball. Then it’s about capitalising on the few touches you get. As a striker you can’t expect to be on the ball every minute.”
De la Fuente says: “Mikel is a highly intelligent person and you witness that on the pitch. He’s among the best forwards at making runs into space, moving between lines, drifting wide. He has played right wing, left wing, second striker and centre-forward and always performed well. Very few players have his ability to read the game. He has the humility and understanding to stay grounded, because this sport is a merry-go-round. He sets an example for everybody and I’m more pleased with him each day. Those who understand football rate him extremely highly. Unfortunately, there are others who fail to see it, but the influence he holds in the Selección is huge.”
They do now, the figures confirm it. De la Fuente had always trusted him. When he took over as manager, he named Oyarzabal one of the captains, ignoring the usual criteria and relying solely on his longevity. As Fabián Ruiz puts it: “Mikel appears shy, but he’s someone you listen to, because he always offers the right opinion.” There has been an evolution too, shifting infield from the wing for his club, which Oyarzabal connects to the knee injury that kept him out of the previous World Cup, turning into a centre-forward who isn’t a conventional No 9 and is all the better for it. “People claimed there was no centre-forward; there was one, just a different profile,” De la Fuente said. He had deployed Oyarzabal there at under-21 level.
When Oyarzabal entered the Euro 2024 final, he scored. Naturally: he has found the net in every final he has played. This time, it proved the winner; it also marked the beginning of a new chapter. Álvaro Morata stepped aside, leaving Oyarzabal as the first-choice central option. Last season was his most prolific league campaign for Real Sociedad, with 15 goals. Since that strike against England in Berlin, he has been directly involved in more international goals than Mbappé, Messi, Ronaldo or Kane. Only Haaland has more. Over his last 18 appearances for Spain he has scored 17 times and provided eight assists.
Four of those goals have arrived in the US this summer on the grandest stage of all, where he belongs. Recently a boot manufacturer name-checked a striker they had never mentioned before, and they weren’t the only ones. “I celebrate that we are finally talking about him, truly, so thank you,” De la Fuente said.
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