Also against the French

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Same round, same opponent, same direct hit: Spain's Lamine Yamal's dream goal on Tuesday in the European Championship semi-final against France was basically a copy from 2023. Yamal scored then too. Against France. In a European Championship semi-final. Left-footed into the far corner.

No joke at all! We're talking about the U17 European Championship in 2023, the semi-final match was between Spain and France. And indeed, Yamal, still 15 years old at the time, won the ball on the half-right, danced a few steps inside, lined up the ball ready to shoot with the outside instep tipper and - guess what! - flicked the ball into the far corner of the net from just outside the penalty area. A hammer goal. Just like he did again yesterday, Tuesday, at the "big" European Championship. Like the proof? Here you go, published by UEFA itself:

France won back then
Suspected plagiarism! And yet there are a few crucial differences to his stroke of genius in 2024: yesterday it was the 1:1 that Yamal scored, a year ago it was the 1:0 lead for Spain. But the highlight is diametrically opposed: While Spain advanced to the final yesterday, the French youngsters turned things around in 2023, winning 3-1 and advancing to the final. However, it wasn't enough for the "Grand Nation" to score a major coup last year either. In the final, Germany came out on top in a penalty shoot-out. The same Germany that lost to Yamal and Spain in the quarter-finals of the "real" European Championship this year.