Spain captain Rodri is hopeful Lamine Yamal can have the kind of influence that has been largely lacking from his first World Cup when the European champions face tournament favourites France in Tuesday’s semi-final.
Yamal was expected to be one of the stars of the tournament having played a pivotal role in Spain’s surge to glory at Euro 2024. He became the youngest goalscorer in Euros history with his stunning strike in the semi-final against Tuesday’s opponents, which came four days before his 17th birthday. He subsequently assisted the winning goal in the 2-1 defeat of England in the final.
That assist saw Yamal become the youngest player to register a goal involvement in a major tournament final and took his tally to four, tying the record for the most in a single Euros.
But the Best Young Player award winner from Euro 2024 has struggled to make the same impact at his maiden World Cup.
Rodri hopeful over Yamal ahead of Spain’s France test
Indeed, Barcelona’s teenage superstar, who came into the tournament on the back of a hamstring injury suffered in April, has only one goal against Saudi Arabia to his name and has yet to register an assist.
Still, Didier Deschamps’ France will be all too wary of the threat posed by Yamal, who followed up his stunning strike against Les Bleus in the Euros semi-final with a brace in the same stage of the UEFA Nations League last year in a remarkable game that saw Spain prevail 5-4.
And Rodri is calm over Yamal’s output to this point, and believes keeping the 19-year-old in the same composed state of mind is key to him producing when it matters most.
“It’s life, it’s football,” Rodri told The Guardian. “Lamine showed so much maturity at the Euros. He’s two years older now, and you’ve seen what he’s capable of, so maybe it doesn’t impress you so much. But at his age, two years on, I was just starting out. I hadn’t even played professionally yet.
“He’s a kid, he’s shown such maturity, but he still has things he can improve: in understanding the moments of the game, say. Which is normal because of his age. We all know the level he has.
“The manager [Luis de la Fuente] said it best. The way to help Lamine is keep him calm. He needs to calm that anxiety, that urge, he sometimes has to show what he can do.
“He’s so important for us, with and without the ball. He’s an intelligent boy. But he’s 19 and there are times when you have to calm him in games. He has so much football inside that he wants to bring out; it’s about finding the right moment. Against France, we hope he can be important.”
Rodri: An open game doesn’t suit Spain
Rodri is not expecting a repeat of the Nations League clash, in which Spain led 5-1 before a late flurry from France, who are on the cusp of reaching a third straight World Cup final after breezing through the first three knockout rounds without conceding a goal.
But Manchester City midfielder Rodri is optimistic about Spain’s hopes of victory.
Assessing the two semi-finals, Rodri said: “England v Argentina will be very, very close, two very different styles of football, but I would rather focus on ours. France are one of the best teams here, in great form, but so are Spain. We can beat them, we’ve seen that at the Euros and in the Nations League.
“I feel good and I’m happy about the team’s growth, which is so important at tournaments. We’ve got the feel of things as we went, and now we’re in a good moment. I see a team that’s as competitive as [they were] at the Euros. The form people were in [when we arrived] is different, the physical condition. That’s why I kept saying it would be a long tournament, that we would have to ‘chew’ on it, become a good version of ourselves. We can see that now. If we can continue this progression, we can reach our level but what I would underline is how competitive this team is.
“France have great attacking qualities, but I’d also highlight their defensive strength. They defend well in a low block, they’re very physical, very aggressive. We’ll have to take the game to where we want it. It’s rare for any game to finish 5-4 like last year and we can’t allow that to fool us, to think this will be something it won’t. If only it could be like that! But I don’t think it will be.
“We’ll see a stronger team, harder to score against. World Cups are different. And I don’t know that an open game, a back-and-forth like that, suits us. We’ll have to control more. This is a big challenge against one of the teams playing the best and we’re looking forward to it.”
