Thiago Alcantara, a member of Barcelona's coaching staff, praised the exceptional talent of Lamine Yamal, confirming that the young winger was the decisive factor every time he participated in training.
Lamine Yamal
Club: Barcelona
Lamine Yamal is competing in the World Cup with the Spanish national team and contributed to La Roja's qualification to the round of 16 to face Portugal.
Alcantara said on the podcast Rio Ferdinand Presents: "The special thing about being in Barcelona's coaching staff is that I had recently retired, so I was able to train with them and keep up with their rhythm, seeing their great level and movements up close."
He continued, "In the divisions and mini-games during training, Lamine Yamal always made the difference, the team he was on would win, it was amazing."
He added, "What I like about this generation of young players is their ability to move with the ball at an incredible speed we haven't seen before, yet they make the smartest decisions."
He revealed, "This is the difference between the past and the present, the game has become faster, and perhaps today's generation has fewer skills than ours, but they move at a faster pace in all situations and make the right decisions while running fast with or without the ball."
He continued, "That's why it's said that football has become more physical, they are better than us in speed, but when the pace of play slows down, maybe we were better in our time."
He concluded, "His mentality is not wrong, he is a young boy but very mature, he is now living the wonderful life he deserves, and it's up to him to determine his future, either to build a stable career for many years at the highest level or to be content with what he has achieved and rely only on his stardom."
The Spanish national team is preparing to face Portugal in the round of 16 next Monday at 10 PM Cairo time.
