Watching the 16-year-old Spanish forward Lamine Yamal waltz across the pitch on Tuesday with the grace and composure of a 20-year veteran, shimmying one way to go the other before expertly placing the ball from well outside the box into the back of the net, completely broke my world.
This was an equalising goal against France, who have Kylian Mbappé (who not long ago was football’s newest wonderkid) as their talisman and won the World Cup in 2018. It was perhaps the most stunning moment so far in this year’s European Championship. And it was produced by a boy – yes, a boy, all of 16 years and 362 days old when he did it (he turns 17 today). After scoring, Lamine Yamal ran to the sidelines to celebrate, only then betraying his age as he flashed a pimple-faced grin, his braces fully on show.
