Wayne Rooney could hardly contain his excitement about watching Lamine Yamal play at the World Cup, pointing out the ‘incredible’ thing he brings to the Spain side.
Still just 18 years old, Yamal is one of the biggest stars in the sport, hoping to add a World Cup to his CV, having won the European Championship as a 16-year-old.
The wildly talented winger already has three La Liga titles to his name with Barcelona and is coming off a season in which he scored 24 goals for the Catalan giants.
His involvement in the World Cup was under some doubt after a hamstring injury late in the season, but he recovered just in time.
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Yamal was not risked from the start in the opener against Cape Verde – which ended goalless – but was unleased against Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
It took the teenager just 10 minutes to open the scoring in a comfortable 4-0 win, before he was removed at half-time as his return to full fitness is managed.
Rooney was on punditry duty for the BBC and was buzzing about Yamal’s performance, not just in his scintillating attacking play, but also his work rate in defence.
‘Do you know what I absolutely love him, he just makes me smile. The enjoyment and fun he plays with,’ the Manchester United said on the BBC.
‘What he does for that Spain team, there’s a lot of young players in that Spain team and he give them that confidence.
‘They won the Euros with him as a 16 year old, now he’s matured as a player, which seems crazy to say about an 18-year-old, but he gives every other player on that pitch for Spain a confidence and belief that they can go on and win this World Cup.
‘When you’ve got that about you, to make other players feel better on the football pitch, it’s incredible to have that as an 18-year-old.’
The former England forward added: ‘Him running back and helping his team out. When you get a big player that’s willing to run back and willing to help out.
‘The impact that has on the rest of the team, they’re looking at that and thinking, “we’ve got a superstar running back and helping out defensively.” That means everyone else has to do it, whether they like it or not.
‘I’m just so excited to watch him in the rest of this World Cup, I’m sure that comes across, he’s such an enjoyable player to watch.’
On scoring for the first time in a World Cup, the young sensation said: ‘It’s very special, I’ve always dreamed of being in a World Cup, and to be able to score in my first match is a dream come true. I watched the other World Cups in school.’
Spain recover from their disappointing and shocking goalless draw with Cape Verde with the victory over Saudi Arabia, which takes them to the top of Group H.
Uruguay and Cape Verde have the chance to go level with them when they meet late on Sunday.
Spain and Uruguay meet in what could be a shootout to top the group on Saturday June 27.