"I believe that football owes recognition to Spanish players: Spain has deserved more than one Ballon d'Or in recent years, with Xavi and Iniesta": the coach of the world champions, Luis De La Fuente, thus launched the candidacy of Lamine Yamal , the absolute protagonist of the Spanish national team's 4-1 victory against Croatia yesterday in the Nations League.

"You know I don't like to highlight individuals, but sometimes it's impossible not to. I must highlight Lamine's work, both collectively and individually. He's a very generous player who puts all his talent, all his genius, this spectacular football he possesses, at the service of the team," said the coach.

Yamal scored two goals and provided an assist. "I think we should give much more recognition to all Spanish players. As I said yesterday, in the history of the Ballon d'Or, Spanish football deserved more than one winner. We failed to showcase our talent, our expertise. The time has come to do so, because they truly are the best players in the world," added De La Fuente, citing Cucurella, Fabian Ruiz, and Ferran Torres, among others.

(Unioneonline)