DPA
Cologne
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente waxed lyrical about 16-year-old talent Lamine Yamal ahead of the Euro 2024 last-16 clash against Georgia on Sunday.
Barcelona’s Yamal has featured in all three of the Iberians’ matches at this European Championship so far. The winger started twice in the group stage and impressed.
In their last match against Albania (a 1-0 win), when Spain had already been confirmed as group winners, Yamal was rested but came on later. He is expected to be back in the starting X1 against major tournament debutants Georgia in Cologne.
“He’s showing a lot of maturity on the pitch,” De la Fuente told a news conference on Saturday.
“He has only just started. He still has his whole life ahead of him.
I hope we can continue to enjoy him - for many, many years to come.” The coach wants to teach him more than just on the football pitch.
“We’re also trying to train him as a person, not just as a footballer,” added the 63-year-old.
De la Fuente worked for years in Spain’s youth ranks so is aware of Georgia’s threat, despite Spain beating them 7-1 in September.
“I know Georgian football really well. I’ve known different generations of Georgian players...I’ve seen the growth of Georgian football and you can see an evolution in the national team players and the way Georgian players are now playing a different leagues in Europe,” he said.
“(Georgia coach Willy Sagnol) has done a fantastic job with Georgia, and he’s very experienced in the world of football. I have a great relationship with him, and I’m really happy that he’s doing so well.” #
Georgia coach on Euro date with Spain: 7-1 loss ‘part of our journey’
Georgia coach Willy Sagnol has said ahead of Sunday’s Euro 2024 last 16 meeting with Spain that a 7-1 defeat against them nine months ago is “part of our journey.”
Spain got the high scoring victory in September in the qualifying campaign and also won the reverse fixture 3-1 at home in November. In all, Spain have won six of their seven meetings, with Georgia’s lone success in a 2016 friendly.
Asked about the 7-1, Frenchman Sagnol told reporters on Saturday that “I don’t want to say much about it” - before elaborating after all.
“Of course it was a difficult moment for us. But sometimes in life you need moments like that to move on, when it’s difficult, when you think you’re no good and that you’ve done everything wrong,” he said.
“That was part of our journey.” Triple champions Spain are the only team which has won all three group stage matches and will be big favourites again in Cologne.
But Georgia have also impressed in their tournament debut and reached the last 16 with victory over Portugal.
“It is a different competition and a different match. Anything is possible,” Sagnol said.
He also vowed that his players including tournament top scorer Georges Mikaudadze will not just sit back.
“We want to show Europe that we don’t just defend, but that we can also deal with the ball,” Sagnol said.
