Lamine Yamal has responded to criticism from Rafael van der Vaart after Spain beat Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal.
Click here for more football updates.
Check out M88 Mansion’s best offers here.
Yamal mocks van der Vaart
Yamal scored Spain’s third goal in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium, with La Roja going on to win on penalties.
Although the 17-year-old missed his penalty in the shootout, he still took to social media after the game to respond to former Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart.
Notably, Van der Vaart had criticized Yamal before Spain’s second-leg match for lowering his shorts.
“I see things that are starting to bother me a little,” Van der Vaart said.
“Pants a little lower, not making much of an effort, slightly superficial gestures.”
“That’s when I think: if you’re that young, you should be happy with every minute you play for Spain. No matter how good you are, at that age, you have to prove it every minute and in every game.”
Yamal’s post included Van der Vaart’s face alongside a photo of himself leaving the pitch with lowered shorts.
“Shorts down, a goal, a missed penalty and INTO THE SEMIFINAL, COME ON SPAIN!” the Barcelona winger wrote on Instagram.
“I am a bit annoyed”
Meanwhile, van der Vaart responded after Yamal mocked him on social media.
“This goal was really out of the ordinary. A world goal, a world player. Still, I would advise him not to worry so much about a former player who is a bit too fat and says something about him. That is completely unimportant,” he told Ziggo Sports.
“He is 17. He is so good, but I am a bit annoyed by his mannerisms and I mean that well. When you get so much praise as a 17-year-old, you also start to believe that the whole world revolves around you.”
“I actually just wanted to say that, yes, well you know, we played football in Spain. And then people get angry, let them be angry. My family is half Spanish, they all live there, and the bomb exploded. I was not aware of any wrongdoing. I just said, ‘I see mannerisms that I don’t really want to see’, but I don’t think I think he’s super bad. I think he’s a great player. He just has to keep his feet on the ground.”
Spain’s win set up a June semifinal against France.
