LAMINE YAMAL: BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH

The world, like a football, is at Lamine Yamal’s feet. He is that powerful—at least at this moment. And as in his brilliant goal in the semifinal cracker against France in the just concluded Euros, he could do anything with the ball: he can cut inside to his right, and/or cut outside to his left before pulling a magnificent shot into the net, leaving Adrian Rabiot helpless, Mike Maignan clueless, and the scrambling crowd of Spanish fans breathless. At that instant, the legend of young Yamal went into the second act, and everyone who had doubts, reasonable or not, buried them.

Before that picture-perfect equalizer, an unbelievable set of pictures had flooded and broken the internet. In what was later verified to be a 2009 UNIICEF shot, a young, long-haired Lionel Messi was shown bathing and cradling a baby, and in another frame flanked by an equally young mum. The boy in the picture, to everyone’s surprise and disbelief, was the shimmering Lamine Yamal. In their Thomassien doubt, fans fell over themselves migrating to verification sites and apps, going over and over the images, confirming their authenticity. How coincidental could it ever get that one great footballer was involved in a promotional campaign that had him bathing—or baptizing, some might say—an incoming great? From this point the rave became unstoppable.

The cameras would follow the then-sixteen-year-old Spaniard, so as the papers. Yamal, along with his equally explosive friend Williams, in their social media savviness, set ethanol to the flaming fame. The youngest to ever score and assist in the European Championship, a fearless taker-on, smooth and seamless, calm and unassuming, Yamal earned himself the love of the people. By the end of the tournament where he clinched four assists and a goal, after a final where Spain’s superiority was asserted mercilessly, where Yamal and friend Williams combined to sink the English, Lamine won the best young player of the tournament.

But as the story goes and the celebrations rages on, some elements become too familiar. Where have we seen something like this, someone not long ago had captured our imagination and admiration in same fashion. Ansu Fati, Pedri, Gavi, but most especially Ansu Fati. With the major difference being their stronger feet, Ansu was similarly explosive and fascinating, bold and direct, and often got the job done. And like Yamal today, he drew comparisons to Lionel Messi, although not very picturesque like Lamine. Ansu played with Messi and the media propped the tools of his inauguration as the Argentine’s heir, and after a shocking and tearful departure from Barcelona to PSG, Ansu Fati was handed the iconic number 10 jersey donned by Lionel Messi for nearly two decades.

As with Pedri whose shining genius is now being snuffed by recurring injuries, Ansu Fati played himself into the same nightmare and has not returned the same from that darkness. Gonzalez Pedri, on June 28, 2020, after featuring prominently in the prior season for Barcelona, became the youngest player to feature in a knockout game at the European Championships when he started in the round of 16 against Croatia, aged 18 years and 215 days. Pedri would go on to play every single minute in Spain’s campaign at the tournament except one after he was withdrawn late for a penalty taker to come on. Weeks after, Pedri lined up for Spain in the year’s edition of the Summer Olympics, racking up a streak of club and national caps.

Soon the exhaustion and injuries came for both Fati and Pedri. The latter, an intelligent midfielder whose football is an art for the eyes, continues to show flickers of his brilliance whenever he is not on the doctor’s roster due to injury. Fati, however, has gone from Lionel Messi’s heir apparent at Barcelona to a forgettable loanee with a forgettable season at Brighton. It is a sad story that features a talent going so fast from limelight to obscurity, from prominence to absence in Spain’s 2024 Euro squad. No matter how unlikely, there are a few cautionary lessons for the up-and-rising star, Lamine Yamal.

Acceptedly, the corrections seem to be currently under the taking. Lamine Yamal indicated prior to the Euros that he wouldn’t be featuring in the Summer Olympics to be held in France, and recent reports indicate he wouldn’t be joining Barcelona’s USA tour. This is a glaring and admirable development that stands in contrast to the handling of Barcelona’s and Spain’s earlier breakout talents. Pedri, currently, is out and unavailable from sporting action again due to an injury sustained early into their quarter-final game with Germany.

Fati is back from Brighton but has no clear path into the starting lineup as rumours of Barcelona’s interest in Yamal’s paddy, Nico Williams, daily rent the transfer market news space. With the talent still in there, the hope is that he rediscovers his chakra and reasserts his glory. The modern landscape of football, complete with its bling and big money, unfortunately, lacks the patience to wait for anyone. This, exactly, is the reason why Yamal must take care. With his social media ubiquity, which in itself is no problem, he should understand that the love and rave of the media is often transient and that what forms an aspect of his public regard today could very well be fodder for criticisms tomorrow.

This is not a foretelling of gloom, but Yamal must beware the ides of march. His stock is climbing and there is no limit to what he could achieve. Furthermore, with the golden era of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s mesmerizing careers coming to due end, there is the seemingly urgent need to replace the heroes and reenact their rivalry, a desperate baptism of new kings. Yamal is already in Barcelona, Kylian Mbappe to whose teenage stats he has been compared has also moved to Real Madrid, and Adidas has run the GOAT and KID advert. The stars are aligning but Lamine must examine the best way to shine.

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This article was published first on The Whistle’s website. For collaboration, idea discussion, and article submission, send an email to thewhistleglobal@yahoo(dot)com.