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LAMINE YAMAL may have helped Spain cruise into the knockout stages of Euro 2024, but the 16-year-old has not neglected his schoolwork, with the Barcelona winger announcing that he had passed his secondary education exams.
Yamal, who broke into the Barcelona and Spain starting line-ups this season, became the youngest player to appear at a European Championship when Spain beat Croatia in their group opener earlier this month.
The teenager has clearly been putting in the hard work both on and off the pitch.
“I passed the exams and I have the ESO title now,” Yamal told Spanish radio station Onda Cero on Friday.
“The last grades I have seen? If I’m honest, I saw them on my phone and it said I had passed, so I just closed the app, called my mum and told her.”
Spain are among the favourites after becoming the only team to win all three of their games in the group stage, where they beat defending champions Italy and Croatia.
They play Georgia in the last 16 this evening.
“Everything we have done in the group stage will be worthless if they knock us out on Sunday (today). We have already played against them (in the qualifiers), but we know it won’t be the same game,” Yamal added.
As Spain seek a record fourth Euros title, Yamal will hope they can go all the way, with his 17th birthday falling on the eve of the final.
Spain’s perfect record so far in Euro 2024 makes them firm favourites to beat Georgia, whom they put 10 goals past in qualifiers, in the last 16 and potentially win the tournament.
But as the boring old football cliché goes, they are taking it game by game, with only one thing in their heads right now: Georgia, whose giant-killing has shocked the football world.
“A month ago, we hardly had a chance, people and the press said. Now we’re favourites. This changes quickly,” said left-back Alejandro Grimaldo with a chuckle.
“Being favourites doesn’t help us at all. We don’t want that pressure.
“We have always said we came here to win the Euros and we still have that mentality but we know we have to proceed game by game, step by step, and for sure, big happiness will come.”
Spain inflicted 3-1 and 7-1 defeats on Georgia in the pre-tournament qualifiers, but Willy Sagnol’s team have improved since then and been a revelation at the Euros — defeating Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal to reach the knockout stage.
Previous form against Georgia made no difference, Grimaldo stressed at a news conference ahead of today’s clash.
“What happened a few months before is in the past now. Football changes quickly. We know this is going to be a tough game. The team is focused and confident of playing a great game and reaching the quarter-finals,” he said.
“It’s all or nothing, you can’t make a mistake. We need to go out from the first minute without errors.
“We’re just focused on ourselves, and it’s going well for us so far.”
The three-time Euros winners strolled through the group stage as the only team with three straight wins, scoring five times and conceding none against Italy, Croatia and Albania.
Grimaldo is competing with Marc Cucurella for the left-back spot, only starting once so far in the Albania game with Spain’s passage to the next round already secured.
“We are friends despite playing in the same position. We get on well.
“He’s played two great games, and I played a great game against Albania,” said Grimaldo, who tends to be more attack-minded than Cucurella, giving coach Luis de la Fuente attractive options depending on the opposition.
“We have the same aim. There’s no rivalry. I think competition is healthy. The one who decides is the boss, not us.” — Reuters
Online Reporter