Lamine Yamal Leads Spain to Thrilling 5-4 Win Over France in Nations League

Post by : Elena Malik

Photo : AFP

Spain’s young star, Lamine Yamal, led his team to an exciting 5-4 victory over France on Thursday. This win sent Spain to the Nations League final, where they will face Portugal.

In the first half at the MHP Arena, Spain showed great skill and quickly took a 2-0 lead. Nico Williams scored the first goal, followed by Mikel Merino’s strike, all within the first 25 minutes.

Early in the second half, 17-year-old Yamal scored a penalty to make it 3-0. His Barcelona teammate, Pedri, then scored a beautiful fourth goal less than a minute later.

France fought back with their star striker Kylian Mbappe scoring from a penalty near the 60th minute. But Yamal wasn’t finished; he scored Spain’s fifth goal just a few minutes later, showing a fantastic performance.

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France kept trying and made a strong comeback. Rayan Cherki scored a great goal, then Dani Vivian accidentally scored an own goal, and finally, Randal Kolo Muani found the net. Despite this pressure, Spain held on to win and will now play Portugal in the final on Sunday.

After the match, Yamal told Teledeporte, “I always tell my mother I give everything I have. That is what drives me to play football every day. France has world-class players. The score after 60 minutes was big, but they make you work hard. Spain and Portugal are both great teams. The best team will win, and I hope it is Spain.”

Spain has been very strong under their coach Luis de la Fuente, losing just one game in over two years. This good form helped them win the European Championship last year by beating England in the final.

Luis de la Fuente relies on quick and active players like Nico Williams and Yamal. After Mbappe missed an early chance and Theo Hernandez hit the crossbar, Williams scored a strong goal to put Spain ahead. Merino then scored the second goal from a perfect pass by Mikel Oyarzabal. It was only the second time during coach Didier Deschamps’ 13 years that France let in two goals so early in a game.

France created chances but missed many important shots. Yamal, who is one of the top young players and has already played over 100 games for Barcelona before turning 18, calmly scored from a penalty after being fouled. He then scored again after Pedri’s goal and Mbappe’s penalty, pushing the ball past France’s goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Cherki’s goal for Lyon was impressive but not enough, and Vivian’s own goal worried Spanish fans. Kolo Muani’s late goal almost made extra time necessary, but Spain’s defense held strong.

This exciting match was the first Nations League game ever with nine goals. It was also the first time France allowed five goals in a game since 1969.

Mbappe, France’s captain, said after the game, “We showed some good moments we haven’t had for a long time. But in just 10 minutes in both halves, we gave up two goals. We were not consistent during the 90 minutes, but we did improve. Losing is tough, but not everything was bad.”

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