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A crack within the universe opened up within the Allianz Arena.
Suddenly, an area appeared that the opposite 21 players on the sector, notably French goalkeeper Mike Maignan, or the 75,000 fans within the stands had not noticed. As it appeared, Pedri, sitting on the Spanish bench, brought his folded hands from his neck to his face. He looked as if he was afraid of what he had just seen. Afraid of the portal to a brand new dimension that his teammate Lamine Yamal was breaking through along with his left foot. The portal to a European Championship final. The portal through which one could catch a glimpse of Yamal's immense potential.
Pedri watches in disbelief as Yamal scores his goal (BBC)
The ball travelled in time because it went from outside to inside towards the far post. Yamal was 13 when the last European Championship took place three years ago. He was in a shopping centre along with his friends as he watched Spain lose to Italy within the semi-finals. Dani Olmo, the person of the match in that match, missed a penalty within the shoot-out. But in Munich, Yamal showed that a unique reality is feasible.
Olmo scored the winning goal against France. His goal was simply exquisite for its skill, its incomprehensibility and its confirmation of Spain's technical superiority. Olmo played with the arrogance of somebody who has scored in three games in a row. But France was also completely stunned and disorientated.
Four minutes earlier, Yamal had equalised France's opening goal. Until then, it had looked like this could possibly be Kylian Mbappe's night. Mbappe had taken off his mask like a gladiator would throw it on the bloody sand of the Colosseum. A declaration of intent. His vision was not impaired by the “terrible” accessory he needed to wear to guard his broken and bruised nose. Within 10 minutes, Mbappe even let Randal Kolo Muani, a player who famously missed a one-on-one within the 2022 World Cup final, not to say one other against Portugal 4 days ago, finally rating.
We've turn out to be accustomed to nobody coming back against France on this tournament. Nor should they. The only goal Maignan had conceded to date was a penalty from Yamal's Barcelona teammate Robert Lewandowski in a 1-1 draw with Poland. Maignan had saved Lewandowski's first attempt, however the referee ordered a retake for an infringement of the penalty area. Beating him would require something very special. Something extraordinary. “We were in a difficult moment,” Yamal admitted. “Nobody expected to concede a goal so early.”
When a roulette from Fabian Ruiz led to a tangle 30 metres from the goal, Yamal picked up the loose ball, interrupting the joy behind the French goal. “I picked up the ball and didn't think about it, I just tried to shoot it where it was going and I'm just very happy.”
He was up against France's giraffe-like midfielder Adrien Rabiot. Yamal clearly felt he needed to carry back. On the eve of the match, Rabiot had said: “We saw that he is a player who can handle stress very well. He has a lot of qualities when he plays for his club and in a big tournament. We know what he is capable of. He keeps a cool head but it can be difficult to deal with a semi-final in a big tournament. It is up to us to put him under pressure but we want him to get out of his comfort zone. If you want to play in a European Championship final you have to do more than he has done so far.”
Yamal responded on Instagram with a post showing a hand moving a pawn on a chessboard. “Move in silence,” the caption read. “Speak only when it's time to say checkmate.” Yamal let his left foot do the talking. He made his move within the twenty first minute. Yamal initially hid the ball by wrapping his left foot around it to go past Rabiot, only to then release it by pushing it inwards with the skin of the identical boot.
Rabiot moved back and forth like an arctic crab. When Yamal prepared to shoot, he held out a pair of claws, but Rabiot didn't catch the ball. Neither did Maignan. He covered his goal as best he could. The AC Milan goalkeeper's gloved hand covered the highest corner, however it couldn't block out the sun, the sunshine of Yamal's talent. “Speak! Speak!” Yamal shouted to Rabiot. “Talk! Talk!” All the Frenchman's talk had been low cost. Yamal's shot, then again, was priceless. “We saw a stroke of genius,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente.
It just isn’t unusual for people to say that perfection doesn’t exist. That it’s unattainable. But Yamal's shot disproved that notion. “His shot was praised by Didier Deschamps. It made Yamal the youngest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship at 16 years and 362 days. He will turn 17 on the eve of the final. The only present Yamal wants is “simply to win, win, win. My goal was to have the opportunity to have a good time my birthday here in Germany. And I’m very glad to have a good time it here with the team.” And he added: “I told my mom that she doesn't must buy me a gift if we win the ultimate.”
As Yamal turned and charged towards the rapt Spanish bench, sliding on his knees in a state of euphoria, memories of a very similar goal the Barcelona winger had scored against Mallorca flashed before the eyes of the Catalan journalists in the press box. But this one was better. For the occasion. Because it made Mbappe puff out his cheeks in an expression of awe and helplessness. “I don't know if it was probably the most beautiful goal of the tournament,” Yamal said. “But for me it’s probably the most special.”
Maignan is powerless to stop Yamal (Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)
Yamal's performance is reduced to the evaluation of a moment. But Rodri went into more detail. “I personally went to Lamine and congratulated him on his performance,” he said. “People will remember the game for his goal and what he did is something that only a select few can do. But I personally thanked him for his effort in defence. The ball recoveries, the running back, the way he helped the full-back. That was outstanding for a man of his age. I personally appreciate that a lot.”
At the tip of the sport, the Spanish players huddled together and jumped up and right down to have a good time reaching the ultimate. Yamal initially stood just a little way away from them, closer to the halfway line, like a star from a galaxy far, far-off.
image credit : www.nytimes.com