Lamine Yamal claims the Ballon d'Or as Spain leads a crazy triumph

BarcelonaIn the 53rd minute of the second half of the Nations League semi-final, Nico Williams assisted Lamine Yamal, who was awarded a clear penalty by Rabiot. Then, Nico and Oyarzabal looked to the genius from Rocafonda and gave him the ball with a clear message: score the goal and be on your way to the Ballon d'Or. Spain defeated the French with two goals from Lamine in a match where Deschamps' disciples almost overturned a 5-1 deficit, and this Sunday they will try to win the title against Portugal.

Although France played better at times and gave Unai Simón a lot of work, every time Spain got their chances, they drew blood. A real ordeal for Didier Deschamps' team and especially for two of his players, Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé. Both knew that this international tournament could help them earn points towards winning the next Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world, but they ended up with a snub. And both tried again and again in a first half that, at times, was a monologue by Didier Deschamps's disciples. Spain, with Pau Cubarsí on the bench, as coach De la Fuente preferred to start with Le Normand and Huijsen, were unable to stop the French play initially. But in one of their first attempts, Mikel Oyarzabal assisted Nico Williams, and the Athletic Bilbao player beat Maignan.

The Basques, on target

It was the start of a Spain festival that didn't quite have control, but knew how to bite in a first half in which the best player was Nico, always lethal. Lamine Yamal couldn't find a way to stand out in a match where Pedri also didn't have as much possession as he would have liked. Accompanied by Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino, the Canary Islander would grow in a match that was already half-done at halftime, as Oyarzabal once again invented a good assist for Merino. The Navarrese, who plays as a striker for Arsenal and as a midfielder for the national team, would take advantage of the Real Sociedad player's vision, a false new who understands games like angels. In the first half, in fact, it was the Basques and Navarrese who imposed their game. The one who suffered was another Basque, in this case Didier Deschamps, born in a village in the French Basque Country.

France would come out firing again in the second half, with Doué showing signs of his quality. But Spain took advantage of France's first defensive error after the break, creating a counterattack that brought together the two friends, Nico and Lamine. The move would end with a penalty from the Barça genius, who had missed a penalty against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of this competition. But with the Catalan's character, he decided to take the penalty exactly the same, making it 3-0. France, completely shaken, would concede the fourth goal shortly after in a move in which Pedri decided to wear his most elegant dress, with a play that showed all his elegance. With 30 minutes left, France was losing 4-0.

Spain would relax a bit with a penalty that allowed Mbappé to score the 4-1. De la Fuente would rest Pedri and bring on Fabián and Barça's Dani Olmo, just in time for them to see Lamine make it 5-1 with a soft touch. At 17, he's aiming for a second title with a team that shines in attack but squeaks defensively, as evidenced by the three goals he conceded to ease his temper. France even had two minutes to equalize a lost match, but failed to do so. Two years after defeating the Croatians in the final, Spain will seek to become the first team to win the European Nations League twice. It will be against the Portuguese, who are aiming for the same, having been the first champions in 2019. Portugal, coached by Balaguer's Robert Martínez, will have to dig deep to see how he can stop Lamine and Pedri. If Spain wins, the young man from Mataró will continue his path to the Ballon d'Or.