Yamal breaks Pele's record, but…

More importantly, the goal at the age of 16 years and 362 days made him the youngest player to score in a EURO or World Cup, breaking the 20-year-old record of striker Johan Vonlanthen (scoring for Switzerland against France at the age of 18 years and 141 days).

Yamal is playing very well at EURO 2024

Notably, the youngest player of the Spanish team at this tournament also broke two records of Pele that had stood for 68 years at a major tournament. He was the youngest player to play and score in the semi-finals of a EURO or World Cup. The Brazilian legend achieved this feat at the 1958 World Cup, also in a match against France, at the age of 17 years and 244 days. That year, Brazil won the World Cup. This is the motivation for Yamal to also aim for a similar achievement with Spain when he declared after the semi-final: "The only thing I think about right now is winning with Spain, I will try my best to help the team achieve the goal. I just want to win and win."

Yamal makes a strong impression at the age of 16

In this tournament, Yamal played all 6 matches in the starting lineup, he scored 1 goal and assisted 3 times. With this achievement, Yamal is one of the teenagers who contributed to the most goals in the history of the tournament, equaling the record set by Cristiano Ronaldo 20 years ago, when the Portuguese striker scored 2 goals and assisted 2 times.

Perhaps there is no need to say more about the glorious history that has just been written by Yamal. Because in the history of major tournaments such as the World Cup and EURO, he has been comparable to Pele's achievements. However, what many people expect from him is more than that, which is whether Yamal will continue to mature to become a new star, gradually replacing the monuments that have entered their twilight years such as Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Because there have been many stars who shined brightly at a very young age, but later on their achievements and performance were the opposite and they gradually disappeared from the world football stage; or if they were better, they would only be at a fair level and could not reach the pinnacle of world football.

Mbappe of the French team was also expected to become a new monument of world football, but after professional distractions due to the scandal at PSG, his performance has been on a steep decline at both the club and the national team.

After the semi-final match against France, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente did not hesitate to praise Yamal's finishing as a genius of a genius. But then he did not forget to advise this player to continue working with humility to continue developing. Obviously, Mr. Fuente saw the danger ahead if Yamal did not know how to be humble, which is very difficult for a young player when being praised and applauded, along with not trying hard, he would easily lose the halo that had just been lit.

If he maintains this performance in the EURO 2024 final, Yamal will likely continue to break many more records, but whether he can continue to maintain these achievements in the future is another story.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/yamal-xo-do-ky-luc-cua-pele-nhung-185240710230515872.htm