Luis de la Fuente urged people not to compare Lamine Yamal to Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona or \u201canyone\u201d, but did compare him to Salvador Dal\u00ed and Michelangelo \u2013 \u201cgeniuses\u201d for whom the exceptional comes naturally.<\/p>\n
On the eve of their second World Cup<\/a> game, against Saudi Arabia in Atlanta, it was put to the Spain coach that Lamine Yamal is confronted by a process similar to those faced by Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona but at the age of 18. His image is everywhere in the United States, a global figure already, and the buildup to the selecci\u00f3n\u2019s participation at the tournament has been dominated by his availability after an injury he suffered in April \u2013 a teenager cast as their hope and salvation.<\/p>\n \u201cThose are big names,\u201d De la Fuente replied. \u201cThe worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They\u2019re geniuses, like Dal\u00ed [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They\u2019re different. What is exceptional to us, isn\u2019t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.\u201d<\/p>\n De la Fuente added: \u201cWe should help him as best we can on this journey: that would be good for Spanish football and the Spanish national team. Those of us who are parents know that you accompany [your children], guide them, but without invading their space. I am a coach but I am also someone who forms people. When you\u2019re so young, when you\u2019re 18, you still need advice. You can\u2019t talk to them like you do to Jes\u00fas Navas. He is intelligent and accepts it. He protects himself from the media, as he should.\u201d<\/p>\n Luis de la Fuente briefs Lamine Yamal before sending him on for Spain against Cape Verde. Photograph: Ronald Wittek\/EPA<\/p>\n De la Fuente also denied that it is a problem for the national team that so much of the spotlight falls on the teenager, eclipsing everything and everyone else. \u201cThat\u2019s because the atmosphere inside is very healthy, very natural,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know the human qualities of everyone in this group. We are waiting for Lamine because that\u2019s the way it is. He\u2019s important. We celebrated the expectation there is [around him], because he is with us. We understand his role perfectly, and so do his teammates. Day to day, they are all the same, all equal.\u201d<\/p>\n The Spain coach announced that Lamine Yamal was ready to start against Saudi Arabia in their second World Cup game, after a 20-minute substitute appearance in their 0-0 draw against Cape Verde<\/a>. But he also said he did not expect the winger to play the entire game, floating the idea that he could get \u201c55, 58 or 63 minutes\u201d, depending on how the game evolved.<\/p>\n