I get why Yamal is being talked about, but I find the discourse surrounding him so boring. He's genuinely the last player I could care about after the game yesterday. What about Francesco Acerbi? Bloke started paying football late, was still stuck in Serie B at 23, got passed around between clubs as spare change in transfer deals for years due to his license being co-owned by venture capitalists. When he finally caught his big break at 25 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, had surgery only to see the cancer come back, plunged into depression due to the effects of chemotherapy combined with his father dropping dead, became an alcoholic at 28, and started drinking away the little career and life he realistically had left. He's 37 years old now with a body looking at least 20 years older, and he scored his first goal ever in a European competition to make it 3-3 in the 93rd minute last night. Who else could have grabbed that equaliser but the guy who's been living on added time for a decade?
I'm not interested in what Yamal might or might not do in the future, I'm interested in moments like this in the present. Football can still produce human stories in spite of everything it has become.
