With Messi-style dribbling, Lamine Yamal thrills in Spain win at Euro 2024

At times, it was like watching Lionel Messi.

How about that for a compliment for Lamine Yamal after another thrilling performance at the European Championship that showed just why there is such a buzz around this 16-year-old phenom with blond tinges in his dark hair and magic in his boots.

One moment stood out, in particular, in Spain's 1-0 win over Italy on Thursday.

It was the middle of the first half and Yamal had just started to put on a show eliciting some ooohs and ahhhs from a crowd containing Spain's King Felipe VI when the Barcelona youngster found himself inside off his right wing and with the ball at his feet.

Suddenly, he exploded into life, slaloming through the attempted tackles of two would-be challengers Federico Dimarco and then Jorginho while keeping the ball stuck to his left foot. As another tackle came in, he managed to play the ball through to Alvaro Morata to get a shot away.

It really could have been Messi.

As it could when he cut back off his wing and