Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has urged the media not to pile excessive pressure upon the young shoulders of Spain starlet Lamine Yamal.
Ronaldo, 40, and 17-year-old Yamal will share a pitch for the first time on Sunday when Portugal and Spain meet in Munich in the UEFA Nations League final.
Portugal booked their place at the Allianz Arena by beating Germany 2-1 on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored the winner in that semi-final — taking his record-breaking tally of international goals to 137 in 220 senior appearances.
Spain then beat France 5-4 in a thrilling second semi-final on Thursday. That was Yamal’s 20th senior outing for Spain and he marked it by scoring the fifth and sixth goals of his international career.
Despite being over a month away from his 18th birthday, Yamal is already a key player for both Spain and his club Barcelona.
Lamine Yamal (left) will share a pitch with Cristiano Ronaldo (right) for the first time on Sunday
Yamal scored two goals earlier this week to help Spain beat France 5-4 in their UNL semi-final
He shone as Spain won Euro 2024 last summer and he has already played in more than 100 games for Barca, winning four trophies in the process, including two La Liga titles.
Yamal is already being touted as a future Ballon d’Or winner. Indeed, he is currently the second favourite — behind Paris Saint-Germain and France ace Ousmane Dembele — to win this year’s edition of football’s top individual award.
But Ronaldo — a five-time Ballon d’Or winner himself — believes that Yamal should be afforded time and space to develop, rather than being the subject of intense media focus and scrutiny.
Ronaldo told reporters this week: ‘Lamine Yamal is doing very well, taking advantage of his talent. Let the kid grow.
‘Don’t put too much pressure on him. Let him be and grow well, take the pressure off. He has no shortage of talent.’
There is plenty of spotlight on Ronaldo this summer.
His current contract with Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr expires at the end of June and FIFA president Gianni Infantino had suggested that the former Real Madrid and Man United star could be set to join a team competing in the 2025 Club World Cup.
However, Ronaldo confirmed this week that he will be involved in the 32-team event taking place in the USA from June 14.
Ronaldo was on the scoresheet on Wednesday when Portugal beat Germany 2-1 in their semi
On the eve of Sunday’s final in Munich, Portugal captain Ronaldo attended a press conference
‘I will not be at the Club World Cup,’ Ronaldo declared.
‘Some teams reached out to me. Some made sense and others did not, but you can’t try and do everything. You can’t catch every ball.’
Last month, Ronaldo posted on social media that ‘the chapter is over’ following Al-Nassr’s final league game of the season.
That sparked widespread rumours that his time in Riyadh would be coming to an end this summer.
However, Al-Nassr are still understood to be working on a deal to keep him.
