Spain boss Luis de la Fuente said Lamine Yamal 'sacrificed himself' for the team during the World Cup final in New Jersey on Sunday, as the 19-year-old played a decisive role in Spain's extra-time victory over Argentina while capping a tournament that confirmed his rapid rise on football's biggest stage.
Yamal arrived at the World Cup carrying a hamstring concern and the weight of expectation after helping Spain win the European Championship. By full-time in the final, those concerns had been replaced by something else entirely, a teenager who had not only endured but shaped the biggest night of his career, even if his influence was not always loud or obvious.
