Just 16 years old, Lamine Yamal became the European Championship's youngest player.
And what a championship debut the super talent was involved in.
His Spain thrashed Croatia 3–0 – and Yamal provided an assist.
Lamine Yamal is used to being the youngest.
He was only 15 years old when he made his debut for Barcelona in La Liga, and when he scored a goal in his first match for Spain's A-team last autumn, he became both the youngest player ever in the national team and the youngest goal-scorer.
That he was selected for the European Championship squad by national team coach Luis de la Fuente was perhaps no surprise, but it was probably few who thought he would start Saturday's premiere against Croatia.
But he did.
And what a championship debut it was for him.
"Give me tickets"
Yamal set up one of the goals in Spain's 3–0 win and, perhaps above all in the second half, took matters into his own hands. He made himself playable, he ran deep, he dribbled, he shot.
I'm happy for all the young players' sake. I usually tell them to give me tickets to the finals in the future, not to forget about me, says team captain and veteran Álvaro Morata to SVT.
Spain took an early lead when Morata ran through and shortly afterwards Fabian Ruiz extended the lead after crossing between the Croatian defenders. Just before half-time, Yamal delivered a well-weighted pass that right-back Dani Carvajal could calmly slot in.
After that, Croatia never recovered.
Important win
The second half was mostly a formality on the way to three Spanish points.
A good performance against a good team. They have many good players. We needed this. It's a tough group, so it was important for us to win, says Morata.
Spain has been a bit of a question mark ahead of the European Championship – but the big win on Saturday evening shows that the team is one to be reckoned with in the championship in Germany.
