Lamine Yamal hit back at pre-match comments from France’s Adrien Rabiot after the 16-year-old scored a stunning goal to help Spain beat France and reach the Euro 2024 final.
Yamal became the youngest goalscorer in European Championship history as Spain came from behind to beat France in Munich on Tuesday.
Luis de la Fuente’s side went behind after Randal Kolo Muani’s header but bounced back with goals from Yamal and Dani Olmo before surviving a second-half onslaught to book their place in their first Euros final since 2012.
Prior to the game, the Barcelona youngster was the target of comments from Juventus midfielder Rabiot who said that Yamal still had plenty to prove on the big stage.
‘We’ve seen that he’s a player who can handle the pressure,’ the French midfielder said. ‘He has a lot of quality. However, it’s always difficult to handle a semi-final in a tournament like this.
‘It’s down to us to put the pressure on him, to not let him be comfortable and to show him that in order to play the final of a Euro, he’ll need to show much more than he has until now.’
But after his man-of-the-match display, Yamal needed no second invitation to remind Rabiot of his comments.
Approaching a TV camera at full-time, Yamal yelled: ‘Speak now! Speak now!’
Asked in his press conference as to why he made the comments, the Spaniard said: ‘The person knows.’
‘I’m thrilled that we are in the final but we still haven’t done the most important thing, which is win this,’ he added.
On his goal, he said: ‘I was aiming for exactly the top corner where my shot went in and that was a feeling of pure elation. I try not to think too much about what’s going on. I just want to enjoy myself and help the team.
‘I came here to win all the matches so that I could celebrate my [17th] birthday [on Saturday] here in Germany with all of my team-mates!’
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