Yamal fires two-word dig at France star as Mbappe rues Euro 2024 ‘failure’ against Spain
Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal has fired a dig at a France international after Spain booked their place in the final of Euro 2024.
Yamal has been one of the stars of Euro 2024 and scored a stunning long-range goal against France in Spain’s 2-1 semi-final win on Tuesday.
Kylian Mbappe helped France break the deadlock as his pinpoint cross was headed home by Randal Kolo Muani, but Spain quickly turned the game around.
16-year-old Yamal levelled the game before Dani Olmo’s moment of magic saw Spain take the lead and eventually win 2-1 after defending well to keep France at bay.
In the build-up to this game, Yamal exchanged words with France and Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot after the 29-year-old claimed the teenager might find the semi-final “difficult”.
“Obviously it could be difficult for him to deal with a semifinal in a big tournament,” Rabiot said.
“It’s up to us to put pressure on him and to take him out of his comfort zone. And to reach a final at the Euros, he needs to do more than he’s done up until now.”
Speaking pre-match, Yamal responded: “Move in silence, only speak when it’s time to say checkmate.”
READ: Lamine Yamal seizes his record-breaking moment to turn epic Euro 2024 semi-final Spain’s way
As Spain’s players celebrated on the pitch after full-time, Yamal appeared to fire another dig at Rabiot. He shouted: “Speak now!”.
Mbappe meanwhile has admitted that he and France have “failed” at Euro 2024.
“My competition? It was difficult. It was a failure. We had the ambition to be European champions; I had the ambition to be European Champion,” Mbappe said.
“We aren’t that, so it’s a failure. It’s football. We have to move on. It’s been a long year. I’m going to go on holiday and get some rest – that’ll do me a lot of good and I’ll try and come back very strongly.”
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Spain boss Luis de la Fuente has lauded Yamal, claiming “we have seem a genius”.
“We have seen a genius, the product of a genius,” De la Fuente said.
“He’s a player we have to take care of — I have to give him the advice to keep working with the same humility and keep his feet on the floor.
“He would keep growing but this maturity and attitude at such a young age is like that of a more experienced player.
“We are lucky he is Spanish and we can enjoy him for many more years.”
