Lamine Yamal: Believe the hype! Spain's teenage sensation can emulate Pele in the Euro 2024 final

In Berlin on Sunday, Yamal will become the youngest player ever to appear in the final of a major international tournament, surpassing the previous record set by Pele. This is the kind of company Yamal is already keeping - and the kind of comparisons he's already prompting.

So many of those charged with the responsibility of helping him realise his potential have been quite rightly preaching patience and prudence.

"He's still only a child," Barcelona's reserve team coach Rafa Marquez pointed out in an interview with Mundo Deportivo. "Let's take it easy," former senior squad coach Xavi said when the inevitable 'New Lionel Messi' label was being bandied about.

But there is no slowing down the hype train; not anymore, not after Tuesday night.

It's simply not realistic to ask people to keep their excitement in check after watching a 16-year-old light up a game featuring some of the finest footballers on the planet. As Spain veteran Nacho told UEFA after the 2-1 win over France, "We knew that there were genius players in the French team... But if we're talking about genius, then maybe Spain has one too."

That was made painfully clear to Rabiot in Munich, but he really should have been aware of Yamal's brilliance beforehand. Even if you don't believe in fate, don't tempt it by doubting a seemingly pre-destined prodigy that was touched by the greatness of God the moment he was essentially baptised by Messi as a baby.

"We have to help him by keeping his feet on the ground and developing him in the best way," coach Luis de la Fuente says. "That's about calmness and tranquility." The thing is, though, Yamal doesn't appear to lack either.

When it comes to analysing the attacker's game, it's the composure that really stands out. He never seems to take too much out of the ball.

Sometimes taking the easiest option is the hardest thing for a young winger to do. They've often over-eager, too keen to impress, to show off their skillset, but Yamal seems to have already fully embraced De La Fuente's ethos that "speed and power without control is useless".

Maybe we shouldn't be too shocked by Yamal's footballing intelligence. He was educated at La Masia, after all. There is no better place in the world to learn the value of precise and patient passing. But even Xavi, one of the Barca academy's most celebrated graduates, was astounded by Yamal's understanding of the game.

"Lamine's decision-making is almost always correct," the midfield icon said last season. "That's surprising for someone so young, so I hope he will be at Barca for many years because I think he is a player who can define an era."

That process already appears to be well under way in Germany.

Yamal isn't just the youngest player at Euro 2024; he's arguably its best. Nobody has created more goals (three), opportunities (16) or 'big chances' (six) at Euro 2024.

Just taken in isolation, those statistics would be seriously impressive, because we're talking Messi numbers here. So, the fact that they're being posted by a kid who celebrates his 17th birthday on the eve of the final is frankly absurd - and just so damn exciting for any football fan.

There's no need to start talking about whether he might match Messi's achievements, which would be unnecessary, unhelpful and unfair. But, by the same token, there's also no need to shy away from saying that what we're witnessing is something special.

Yamal's performances have made his superstar potential impossible to ignore. He didn't just make a fool of Rabiot in Munich, he also upstaged Kylian Mbappe, another divine talent who announced himself to the world while still only a teenager. But not even Mbappe - or indeed Messi - was this good, this young.

De la Fuente is obviously right to play down the growing sense of expectation around Yamal. Bojan Krkic and Ansu Fati failed to cope with the burden of being compared to Messi, so it's an undoubted positive that the manager of the Spanish national team is preoccupied with protecting his protege.

"Lamine is doing things which give hints that he might be a great of sport," the Spain coach said on Tuesday evening, "But we need to remain calm. In Ancient Rome, when they talked about Caesar they would say: 'Remember he's mortal!'"

And Yamal is not just mortal; he's still only a kid. But Pele became a footballing god at 17 in Solna some 66 years ago. There's just no hiding the fact that Yamal could do likewise in Berlin on Sunday.