A head-turning statistic comparing the World Cup exploits of Barcelona star Lamine Yamal and Blaugrana legend Lionel Messi has surfaced late on Sunday.
This comes after the former opened his account on international football’s grandest stage.
Spain were of course back in action a short time ago, locking horns with Saudi Arabia in a group stage clash.
And en route to an eventual 4-0 triumph for Luis de la Fuente’s troops, the aforementioned Lamine Yamal opened the scoring. Picked out at the far post by Mikel Oyarzabal, the young winger made no mistake in sliding home a close-range finish.
This marked Lamine’s first-ever goal at the World Cup, in just his 2nd appearance at the tournament.
Not only that, but it saw the attacker best a benchmark set by eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and Barcelona legend Lionel Messi.
As revealed by ESPN, Lamine opened his account at the World Cup at 18 years, 343 days old, precisely two weeks younger than Messi was when he managed the same in 2006.
Conor Laird – GSFN
