Lamine Yamal has returned to his very best form. The Barcelona star was the absolute protagonist in Spain\u2019s 4-1 victory over Croatia, scoring two goals and providing an assist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the match, Yamal recalled the criticism he had received just one month earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have to keep going like this. A month ago, you were all saying that I was playing badly\u2026 Now I\u2019m calm and enjoying the moment. But I know very well that from one moment to the next, they will come back and say the same things they were saying a month ago,\u201d Yamal told TVE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His performance against Croatia has once again boosted Yamal\u2019s chances in the Ballon d\u2019Or race, but the Barcelona talent stressed that winning the prestigious award is not his only objective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t play just to win the Ballon d\u2019Or. I play for the team, to win matches, for my country and for myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked whether his performance against Croatia was another piece of evidence in his favor in the race for the prestigious award, Yamal replied: \u201cYes, another one.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yamal also emphasized the importance of starting matches with maximum concentration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have to play with focus from the very beginning of matches, and that way the results will come naturally,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, the 19-year-old spoke about the emotions surrounding the return of the World Cup trophy to Spain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are very happy to have brought the World Cup here to Spain. The fans deserved it, so we are happy for them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lamine Yamal has returned to his very best form. The Barcelona star was the absolute protagonist in Spain\u2019s 4-1 victory over Croatia, scoring two goals and providing an assist. After the match, Yamal recalled the criticism he had received just one month earlier. \u201cWe have to keep going like this. A month ago, you were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n