Nuno Mendes Portugal Antidote Lamine Yamal Spain World Cup

Most teams go into a match against Spain with a sense of foreboding and a crucial question – how best to contain Lamine Yamal? Portugal arrive with answers.

At the 2006 World Cup, England rushed Wayne Rooney back from injury. They felt that their golden generation needed the impetus of a brash red-faced Evertonian, destined for greatness, to come and breathe fire into their campaign. That World Cup ended with a wink from Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney’s fire consuming himself, and England’s generation of heralded Premier League talent being shown their place in the world order by Portugal in the quarterfinal.

Spain, resolute in their belief in their collectivism, arrive in New Jersey 20 years later in somewhat similar circumstances. They are armed with Pedri, Rodri and Fabian Ruiz – a holy trinity of controllers, who rarely allow others to dictate how a game plays out. They’re good enough for Spain coach Luis de la Fuente to swipe aside any pretense of humility when he admitted that Spain had the best midfield in the tournament.

But that core of greatness needs Yamal and his directness. The youngster has rushed back from injury and continues to operate at a lower level than what he has shown in the past – similar to how Rooney did when he was called prematurely. Complicating matters would be an opponent who has what it takes to stop him.

It would be hard to find a better left-back in the world than Nuno Mendes. Yamal certainly believes so, once admitting that the Portuguese was the hardest defender he had come up against.

Mendes has been tasked with stopping Yamal on four occasions till now – three times when Paris Saint-Germain faced Barcelona in the Champions League and once in the Nations League final. Yamal has nothing but a solitary assist to show from the four games.

Mendes not only stifled the Iberian, but won the player-of-the-match award for scoring Portugal’s opener in the Nations League final – one which Spain ended up losing in a penalty shootout. After the game, he was asked about facing football’s best young talent and Mendes displayed the same confidence with his words that he had showcased on the pitch: “Today, I cancelled out Lamine and (did) not let him do what he does best.”

When he first came to Paris, his resume was that of an attack-minded left-back. Then a year later, Luis Enrique joined PSG and expanded his role. His development in dealing with one-on-one situations was accelerated. Combined with his obvious penchant for moving forward, Mendes, under Enrique, became the most complete version of himself – a positionally aware threat on whichever end of the pitch he found himself at.

It’s that dynamism that has troubled Yamal. Give him the task of solely focusing on running with the ball, and he delivers with a fierce directness that football relishes. There is a period in Spain’s Round of 32 tie against Austria when Yamal nutmegs left-back Konrad Laimer twice in the space of minutes – one that leaves the Austrian helplessly motioning to his central defenders, and then the bench at head coach Ralf Rangnick. That is the effect his talent has on some of the top players of the world – even when he is coming back from an injury.

This isn’t to say that Yamal hasn’t grown from the Nations League loss.

“He’s another player, more mature, more assured, he reads the games better, logically. With every stage of his development, every experience, he will be more complete,” de la Fuente told The Guardian.

But Mendes keeps attackers busy by making bombing runs forward himself. In the Nations League final, he was successful in four out of his five dribbles and was seven for 12 in duels that took place on the ground – making three successful tackles (the most from Portugal), and two interceptions (also the most from Portugal).

Yamal too ended up with two interceptions and three tackles in that game – an indication of how much defensive duties affected his ability to create and score. Mendes is a threat that Spain cannot let run freely and freeing Yamal up is not an option. Putting the precocious talent on double duty comes with its cons.

In a battle between two European giants, where there are different avenues for goals, ‘cancelling’ Yamal out severely dents Spain’s chances of ending the game on their terms. In Mendes, Portugal possesses one piece of the puzzle needed to take Spain down.