Lamine Yamal comes to Spain's rescue with his first major World Cup performance

BarcelonaOnly Pelé had managed to score the first goal of a World Cup match at eighteen years old or younger. Until Lamine Yamal arrived. The Rocafonda genius was in charge of scoring the first goal in Spain's thrashing of Saudi Arabia in Atlanta (4-0), a match where Luis de la Fuente's team shook off the bad feelings from their weak debut against Cape Verde. If against the Africans Spain couldn't even score a single goal, against the Saudis they already had three in 25 minutes. Between Lamine Yamal and a brilliant Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain thrashed in a match that became increasingly disjointed as the minutes passed, as Luis De la Fuente's team had quickly finished the job. In fact, he substituted Lamine Yamal at halftime to protect him, because the future of the national team in the World Cup depends heavily on him.

Although the Maresme player is not yet at 100% after the injury he suffered a few months ago, De la Fuente started him. Logically. Spain needed to react, as against Cape Verde they lost a good part of the credit accumulated over months. It was a complete stumble against a weak opponent, so the coach preferred to take a risk by starting the Mataró footballer, who had already enjoyed a few minutes in the debut. And the impact was total. He generated danger, attracted defenders, and created space. The player, positioned on the right wing, did not play his best match, as he is still not at 100%. But a Lamine at half-gas is still spectacular, and attacking the far post on a cross from Oyarzabal, he scored, at eighteen years old, the first goal of the match. He celebrated it with a wide grin, aware that everyone expected a lot from him in his World Cup debut. And it seems he will not disappoint. Only Pelé, who at seventeen years old scored the 1-0 in a Brazil-Wales match in 1958, had scored the first goal of a World Cup match at eighteen years old or younger. Lamine Yamal played 45 minutes and, at halftime, the Spanish coach prioritized giving him a rest to take care of him. The job was already done.

His starting position was not the only change in the Spanish team, as Terrassa-born Dani Olmo, Baena and Pedro Porro also came in, in place of Marcos Alonso, Gavi and Ferran Torres. Cubarsí and Pedri continued to start in a change that rethought the wings, with Porro and Lamine on the right, and Baena and Cucurella on the left. And it was immediately clear that the criticism received this week had spurred on a team that had devoured the Saudis. Even though the Arab team had drawn a good point against Uruguay, today they were easily defeated by an opponent that moved the ball well, exerted high pressure and opened up the field. The first goal arrived after a recovery, with Oyarzabal opening up the field and delivering a cross to Lamine.

Oyarzabal also shone, scoring the assist for the first goal and two goals himself. The Basque player had sealed the match even before the hydration break, with two clever plays where he probed a Saudi defense that was too slow. Spanish attacking talent was combined with Saudi errors, especially with the offside line. The result was 25 minutes of an offensive onslaught from a Spain that, with this result, was able to make two changes at halftime: Yéremy Pino and the Barcelona player Ferran Torres came in for Lamine Yamal and Oyarzabal. The changes did not alter the course of the match and, quickly, Real Madrid's new signing, Marc Cucurella, finished a cross and scored the 4-0 with the collaboration of Tambakti, who scored an own goal. La roja did not stop looking for the fifth goal, with Ferran Torres very active inside the box but lacking accuracy. The Valencian striker is having bad luck in this World Cup, and when he finally scored into an empty net in the last minute, he was offside by a few centimeters.

It was a placid victory where Unai Simon had little to do. Pau Cubarsí also didn't have much to do, but when he did, he finished it, showing all his character. And Pedri played quite well, always careful not to get a yellow card that would have left him out of the next match. In fact, De la Fuente decided to protect him too. And he substituted the Canarian, as well as Olmo and Baena, and brought on Mikel Merino, Fabián Ruiz and a Nico Williams who is still out of rhythm. The Athletic winger seems far from his Eurocopa version. Spain, however, finished the job without needing him and already knows it will overcome the first phase. The last match will be against Uruguay, where they will fight for the first position in the group in a match where, once again, all eyes will be on Lamine Yamal.