Read for 5 minutesNew Jersey11 July 2026 10:28 AM IST
Magic came in the endgame. In the 80th minute Rodri’s ball found Lamine Yamal not far from the Belgium box. Three Belgian players converged on him. He dropped his shoulder to his right, like the hypnotized followers of a cult master, following his deceptive shoulder; Yamal paused and turned his body in the opposite direction, knocking the defenders off balance. Reinforcements moved in. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Pedro Poro. He took a step forward, as if he was struggling with the Belgians, but gave Porro a beautiful back heel.
Ingenious pass failed. But that moment captured Yamal’s monstrosity. The tournament has yet to be his, he has struggled to build up to the Euro crescendo; He has scored just one goal and has yet to register an assist. But here he is, and in fits and flashes, slowly rediscovering the player he once was and the player the world wants to see. His best performance of the World Cup was the quarter-final against Belgium, where he found his joy, slippery pace, satin touch and joie de vivre. He didn’t score a single goal, but he was the most charming player in a battle of wits. Yama also has the same beauty. There will be days when he won’t score or assist, but he will still bring joy to his watchers.
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It only took two minutes into the game for the Belgian to press and slalom up-field. Panicked left back Maxime de Cuper fouled to stop him. But there was hope in the stands. It could be Yamal Unshackles of the afternoon. After that, whenever De Kuper and Yamal faced each other, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku rushed to help him. Doku himself is a bona fide trickster, but Yamal tricks him into a Belgian transfixed back heel nutmeg. To prevent him from taking damage, the Belgians had to block him or soft-foul him.
Yamal Tarang
A wave of Yama began to rise in the arena; Chants echoed like a chorus from the spiritual retreat center. Belgium had a scare — Leandro Trossard dragged him down and luckily got away without a card. His sole purpose seems to have been to humiliate his opponents with his obscene tactics. He did a turn on the touchline, a tight, frictionless swivel like a salsa. Admire the one who made De Bruyne a sublime player himself. He also makes fans of his rivals.
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He would laugh mischievously when he pulled a trick. He would smile when the goalkeeper saved his shots or when it flew just wide. He nearly pulled off one of his signature goals, dancing in the box and curling the ball into the post. But he did not get the necessary whip in his batting. “Just a millimeter,” he would gesture to his teammates. He would have hit the target three times, but without the stinging wattage that his left foot produced.
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Power, a missing element
That power is perhaps the missing element in his game. He will come, because he is such a brilliant player that he doesn’t shine forever. “We have to remember that he is recovering from an injury. Now, in an important week, he is ready to be at his best and motivated,” his manager Luis de la Fuente told a press conference.
Lami Yamal in action. (AP)
Lamal is unfazed by his pathetic goal-scoring record. He was impetuous, didn’t try too hard, showed patience and imagination. He made defensive shifts, frequently supplied his teammates with through balls and worked hard on the ball to maintain his shape. He had a hand in Fabian Ruiz’s first goal. Receiving the ball from Pedro Porro, he returned it to him with a beautifully weighted pass. The left-back flicked it back to Ruiz. De La Fuente called it Yamal 2.0. “It’s another, improved (version) of Lamine. We’re looking at version two-point-something, as the youngsters would say,” he reflected. “But it’s (also) very simple, pure math. If you’re able to draw the attention of a lot of opposition players, that means other (players) or areas of the pitch are left vulnerable,” he added.
He became more assertive as the game wore on and became Spain’s leader in the attacking third. His speech exuded confidence. After the game, where he was named man of the match, he issued a warning to France: “If anyone is scared, it should be them – we knocked them out of the Euros.”
Both France and Yamal will remember the goal. He ripped a devilish curve from 25 yards out. The construction was equally memorable. He ran away and everyone followed him. He stopped, zipped, and wrapped his foot over the ball. The goal gave France a break and Spain completed the upset. Perhaps, he is saving his best for the reunion.