Birthday boy Yamal stakes claim as player of the Euros

The most exciting player on the most exciting team at Euro 2024 - Spain's Lamine Yamal - turns 17 on Saturday, but the birthday celebrations will have to wait while he prepares for Sunday's European Championship final against England in Berlin.

"I've told my mum that if we win I don't want any presents, I just want to celebrate in Madrid with my mates," Lamine, as he prefers to be called, said in an interview with Spain's Marca outlet on Saturday.

"That would be crazy, to celebrate with people on the streets all the way from the airport. Everyone would go crazy! We would arrive with incredible euphoria."

Yamal has been breaking records since making his professional debut for Barcelona less than 15 months ago, the last one becoming the youngest goalscorer in Euros history with a stunning curled long-range shot against France that helped his side reach the final.

The youngest to play, start and score for his club and his nation are other records he has broken since. Against England at Berlin's Olympiastadion he may have the chance to reach even higher ground if he helps his side win a record fourth European Championship title.

It would strengthen his case as the most productive young player in Europe and surely put him in the frame to be named player of the tournament.

Lamine fever has set in, with his father making headlines last week by publishing on social media a December 2007 photo of his baby son in the arms of former Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.

Messi, 20 at the time and starting a career which would take him on to win the Ballon D'Or eight times, was posing for a charity calendar, and just happened to be cradling in his arms a baby who 17 years later would take the European Championships by storm.

His father told Spanish TV La Sexta it was "just a life coincidence". The reporter suggested maybe Messi's blessing had somehow given Yamal his remarkable talent, to which his mother fired back: "What if it was the other way around?"

Yamal, born in Spain to a father from Morocco and a mother from Equatorial Guinea, is the latest wonderkid to make headlines in a country that has become one of European soccer's most fertile production grounds for world-class players.

Following in the footsteps of Barca academy teenage sensations Pedri, Gavi and Ansu Fati, Yamal has established himself as an important part of Barca's forward line.

He has also been highly influential for Spain in Germany as the player with most assists (3), key passes (16) and clear chances created (6).

He has been a nightmare for opponents, running up and down the right channel and showing great technique and vision to deliver key passes, making him one of Spain's most dangerous weapons.

He was close to scoring several times in Spain's first five games in Germany, but it wasn't until their sixth - the semi-final against France, that he finally made his mark with a candidate for goal of the tournament.

"We have seen genius from a genius," Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. "We are very lucky that he is Spanish and that we are going to enjoy him for many years to come."