SPANISH wonderkid Lamine Yamal gave a cheeky message to the camera after his semi-final masterclass against France.
The 16-year-old helped Spain book a spot in the Euro 2024 final with a 2-1 win over France, after he was called out by French star Adrien Rabiot prior to the clash.
Yamal has been one of the standout stars at the tournament this summer and was certainly one to watch heading into the semi-final against France.
But experienced French midfielder Rabiot fired a warning to the teenager ahead of kickoff.
The former PSG and Juventus star had warned that Yamal would need to do much more than he already has to be a difference maker against France.
Rabiot said: “It is always complicated to manage a semi-final in a tournament like this, but it will be up to us to put the pressure on him [Lamine Yamal] above all.
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“Not to let him feel comfortable and to show him that to play in a Euro final, he will have to do much more than what he has done so far.”
Yamal certainly responded to that on the pitch, scoring a stunning equaliser to rule out Randal Kolo Muani’s opener for France – while becoming the youngest ever goal scorer in a European Championship in the process.
And after doing his talking with his feet, he appeared to send a brutal rebuttal to Rabiot’s comments at full-time.
The teenager looked straight down the camera and appeared to say: “Speak now, speak now!”.
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Yamal had already sent a cryptic message out on his Instagram before kick-off, seemingly hinting that Rabiot had spoken too early.
It read: “Move in silence. Only speak when it is time to say checkmate.”
Yamal won this game of chess as his Spain side progressed into Sunday’s Euro 2024 final after Dani Olmo added a second to make the scored 2-1.
Spain will now face the winner of Wednesday night’s clash between England and Holland.
Yamal has had an exceptional tournament for Luis de la Fuente’s side this summer in Germany.
And the youngster has been doing it all while balancing his studies.
Before the tournament got underway, Yamal admitted that he had to bring his homework to Germany with him as he is still finishing high school.
He said: “I have classes on the web and I’m doing well, I hope the teacher doesn’t fail me.”
While his unbelievable skill at such a young age has seen him smash all kinds of records.
As well as tonight becoming the youngest ever Euros goal scorer, he also became the youngest player to feature at the tournament when he started Spain’s opener against Croatia last month.
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He has done it next to an experienced group of players too with teammate Jesus Navas, 38, actually three years older than Yamal’s dad.
Yamal has now scored one goal and registered three assists in his six appearances at Euro 2024 – an incredible return for a teenager making his major tournament debut.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
