Lamine Yamal: “I think it is unnecessary to play 90 minutes against Saudi Arabia”

The young Spanish footballer Lamine Yamal is clear that it is “unnecessary” to play the 90 minutes in Spain’s next match against Saudi Arabia in the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, despite being “physically prepared” and “willing” to play whatever coach Luis de la Fuente “wants”, while he confessed his fears of missing the tournament due to injury and stressed that the fact of tying against Cape Verde does not mean that they are “one of the worst teams” in the championship.

“I think that very soon, it is unnecessary, I have an adaptation process first. I think it is not the time to play a whole game, but I can play the minutes that the coach wants,” said Lamine Yamal in an interview broadcast this Friday on Radio Televisión Española (RTVE).

The FC Barcelona winger is “physically well” and “looking forward” to this Sunday’s game as he has been off the pitch for “a lot of time.” “Just because I’m fine doesn’t mean I’m going to play. Choose the coach, but I’m prepared,” the international stressed.

The Blaugrana footballer stated that he had “never” been injured until this year when he suffered two injuries that left him out and for which he needed to “take it calmly, with his head.” “Thank God, these are injuries that allow me to play with my team again during the season and nothing, I hope to never get injured again, but as long as I move on, calmly, to being a professional,” he added about his recovery.

In any case, Lamine Yamal does not hide that when he was injured again he was “afraid” of missing the World Cup, even though he thinks about helping his team, FC Barcelona. “The World Cup is what you have in your head. And the first thing I thought was that the doctors told me that I was overweight and here we are, happy,” he detailed about his feelings about the extent of the injury.

The winger also spoke about another injured player like Nico Williams, whom he sees as “better” physically than him, although he also knows that both must enter “little by little” and without “rush.” “We have a ‘great team’ and, even if I and Nico are out, we have high-level players and we have to go calmly,” he stressed about the role of both in the European champion.

Lamine Yamal acknowledged having been “nervous” from the bench in the match against Cape Verde and admitted that “the feeling” he has for the remainder of the tournament is that of “having the desire and ambition to be able to win and to be able to play.” “But always trying to help my teammates from wherever I am,” he said.

He also downplayed his gestures in training after Monday’s draw. “In the end, I understand that the job of journalists is to talk about something and when there is nothing to talk about, then you will have to invent something, just like when I can’t attack, then I would have to invent some play,” concluded the Spanish footballer.

That is why he has “turned the page” on his debut because for him “drawing” or “winning 6-0” in the first game “doesn’t serve any purpose.” “The important thing is to take those feelings and win, but obviously on Sunday we have to win because we are among the favorites. We have to win, but I don’t think that a draw tells you that you are one of the worst teams in the World Cup or that victory makes you the best,” added the footballer.

“WE ARE SPAIN AND WE WANT TO PLAY AGAINST THE BEST”

Lamine Yamal is competing in his first World Cup as one of the stars of football and is “aware” of what he is like as a player “inside and outside Spain”, but prefers to take it “calmly”. “In the end, if you have that image on the building it is because you can do things on the field that people like, that people get excited to see you play and that is the only thing I want and think about,” he said about the giant poster with his image in Atlanta.

On the other hand, he also made it clear that he is not going to become obsessed on the field because other stars like Kylian Mbappé or Leo Messi score “two or three goals” because his style of play is “other” and is focused on “enjoying” and “winning.”

However, he did not miss the opportunity to praise the Argentine. “I think that in every game he shows that he is the best player in history. If anyone has doubts it is because they are looking for them, there is nothing more to say. For me he is the best, obviously, my idol is Neymar because I like to see him play, but Messi is the best, and there is no discussion of that,” said the Spanish international.

The winger knows that to win the World Cup he must face “the best” and for this reason he doesn’t care if he finds Argentina in the round of 32 or in the final. “We are Spain and we want to play against the best,” he stressed.