Julius Okorie
Flawless Spain came from behind Tuesday night to beat France 2-1 and zoom into the final of 2024 Euro Championship where they will meet either England or Netherlands on Sunday.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelFrance who have been less impressive since the tournament stunned their critics at the Allianz Arena scoring their first open-play goal of the tournament thanks to Randal Kolo Muani as early as the 9th minute.
But the lead what short lived as wonder boy Lamine Yamal stepped up to make history. He scored a thunderous goal outside the eighteen-yard box to gift Spain the needed equalizer in the 21st minute.
The goal made the FC Barcelona forward, Yamal, the youngest player to score a goal in the European Championship. He achieved the feat at 16 years and 362 days old.
As if even playing at a European Championship at the age of 16 was not impressive enough. As if being the player with the most assists at the tournament was not impressive enough. Lamine Yamal continues to rip up the record books. This was something else.
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26-year-old RB Leipzig forward, Dani Olmo made it 2-1 four minutes after as Spain went into the break with a comeback lead.
In the second half, France had the best chances but couldn’t convert them. One of the best chances of the half fell to Kylian Mbappe who played the game this time without a mask.
The 25-year-old new Real Madrid forward had the option of passing the ball to substitute, Olivier Giroud in the penalty box, but he decided to go solo. He ended up firing the ball over the bar from a relatively close range.
Spain Teenager Lamine Yamal Aiming For The Sky
As for Yamal accolades have continued to pour in following his performance Tuesday night.
If Yamal was not already a superstar, then he is now. As Oscar Lopez, one of his former coaches in Barcelona’s academy, put in by text message after the game: “He has no ceiling.”
Ten Youngest Scorers At The Euros Championship:
Lamine Yamal – 16 years 362 days (Spain 2-1 France, July 9 2024)
Johan Vonlanthen – 18 years 141 days (Switzerland 1-3 France, June 21 2004)
Wayne Rooney – 18 years 237 days (England 3-0 Switzerland, June 17 2004)
Renato Sanches – 18 years 317 days (Poland 1-1 Portugal, 3-5 penalties, June 30 2016)
Dragan Stojkovic – 19 days 108 days (France 3-2 Yugoslavia, June 19 1984)
Arda Guler – 19 years 114 days (Turkey 3-1 Georgia, June 18 2024)
Cristiano Ronaldo – 19 years 128 days (Portugal 1-2 Greece, June 12 2004)
Ferenc Bene – 19 years 183 days (Spain 2-1 Hungary, June 17 1964)
Cristian Chivu – 19 years 238 days (England 2-3 Romania, June 20 2000)
Patrick Kluivert – 19 years 353 days (Netherlands 1-4 England, June 18 1996)
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
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