sport news Endrick and Lamine Yamal were born before the explosion of Lionel Messi and ... trends now
They were born within a year of each other – just before the explosion of the 'Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi' era in La Liga – and now teenage sensations Endrick and Lamine Yamal are poised to kickstart another rivalry for the ages.
Endrick turns 18 in July and has just scored his first two goals for Brazil – one in the Santiago Bernabeu and the other at Wembley. Lamal will turn 17 a week before Endrick's birthday. He has only started 14 games for Barcelona and three for Spain but in record time he has become the most important player for club and country.
Endrick was born just before the 2006-2007 season, Lamal just after. Real Madrid won the league. 19-year-old Messi was already at Barcelona and scored 14 goals in all competitions but he was still two seasons away from his first Ballon d'Or. Ronaldo was still at Manchester United and would not arrive at Real Madrid until 2008.
Their historic rivalry will never be topped, but watching Spaniard Yamal and Brazilian Endrick going head to head at the Bernabeu was a throwback to Argentinian Messi up against Portuguese Ronaldo in the colours of their clubs. And it was a taste of things to come.
Endrick signed for Real Madrid in December 2022 when he was still 16-years-old from Palmeiras. The initial cost of 35m euros will rise to 60m if he is successful in Spain and no one doubts that he will be.
Teenage sensation Endrick scored two goals for Brazil during the international break
Fellow starlet Lamine Yamal has broken into Spain's senior set-up at the tender age of 16
Both youngsters were born before the explosion of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's era
Real Madrid's super scout in South America, Juni Calafat, has been in constant contact with the player since that signing. And over dinner in the player's home it's been explained to him many times exactly what signing for Real Madrid means. He's ready.
He is not short of confidence. He announced during Brazil's evening meal on the eve of the game this week that he felt he was going to score his first goal at the Bernabeu in the friendly the following night and so it turned out.
He is already able to physically match and even intimidate rival centre-backs. There's an aggression there that saw him kick Marc Cucurella off the ball and that will have to be tamed but Madrid will not want to soften the hard edges too much.
He will need to retain a certain mean streak not just to see off his
