Spain defeats Ronaldo and Portugal in the World Cup
Curry Finn beat Spain vs. Portugal, allowing Spain to advance to the quarter-finals and potentially playing Ronaldo’s last World Cup match.
sports pulse
LOS ANGELES — Every time Lamine Yamal took a step, it felt like Nuno Mendes was right there waiting for him. The 18-year-old Spanish prodigy matched up with 24-year-old Mendes, one of the best left-backs in the world, and showed exactly why he has earned his reputation.
But Yamal didn’t back down, no matter how many balls Mendez challenged. The FC Barcelona star quickly hit back at him, winning half of his duels with PSG defenders and showing enough defensive mettle to impress coach Luis de la Fuente, but Mendes ultimately succumbed to his injury on Monday, July 6, in the 55th minute of Spain’s 1-0 win over Portugal in the round of 16.
“The other day was a scenario where we had to work on defense and know how to defend against a very strong rival until the break, because if he got injured, it was partly because of how demanding Lamine’s defense was. Nuno is a great player and Lamine showed a lot of maturity. It must have been a great learning experience,” de la Fuente said in Spanish on Thursday, July 9.
But in attack, Yamal is still looking for his breakout moment at the World Cup.
After all, the winger is emerging as one of the future faces of the sport, dazzling spectators in La Liga and the Champions League with some of the most mind-blowing skills and finesse that defy all logic for a teenager. However, his fitness and even ability to play this summer were called into question after he missed the end of the season with a hamstring injury.
Yamal recovered enough to be included in the 26-man squad and scored his first World Cup career goal in the opening 10 minutes of La Roja’s second group stage match against Saudi Arabia, scoring a sliding goal at the back post and adding the finishing touch to Mikel Oyarzabal’s low cross.
But since then, Yamals hasn’t been able to find the back of the net. It’s not for lack of effort. His 17 total shots and eight shots on target are both above the 95th percentile among forwards playing in the tournament. It’s not because I don’t have material desires.
That makes Yamal especially dangerous for any opponent at the moment, de la Fuente said.
“He’s really enthusiastic and motivated,” he said. “We have to really try to calm him down so that the anxiety doesn’t turn into anxiety, but that’s not a positive thing. We want him to be motivated and very enthusiastic, and he is. And we know that the best version of him, the most visible and most appreciated attacking Lamine, is going to arrive, because he hasn’t given us the level of moments of brilliance that we’re used to.”
“He’ll bring it, I’m sure of that.”
Yamal may not be able to keep up with Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé or Erling Haaland in terms of goals scored, but his presence on the pitch is enough to attract enough attention from defenders to create chances for his teammates. La Roja now progress to the quarter-finals, where they will face Belgium on Friday, July 10th, before a place in the semi-finals against France is on the line.
To get there, Spain’s future needs to become its present.
“Right now we’re waiting for him to bring it. I’m sure he will,” de la Fuente said. “We’re hoping he does that tomorrow and plays at the great level he has offensively. We’re waiting to see that and we’re confident it will happen.”
