MUNICH — It was in Munich, slightly below a 12 months in the past, that teenage sensation Lamine Yamal introduced himself on the world stage, so it’s apt that 19-year-old Désiré Doué propelled himself to world stardom on the identical venue on Saturday night time by inspiring Paris Saint-Germain to their first ever Champions League title.
In years to return, the Allianz Area is likely to be acknowledged because the launchpad for the 2 gamers (each named to the FC 100) who’re set to dominate soccer on the highest degree. Champions Leagues, World Cups, Ballons d’Or … prepare for Doué and Yamal to develop into this era’s Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Yamal’s second in Munich got here on July 9, 2024, when the then-16-year-old scored the opening objective in Spain’s 2-1 win in opposition to France within the Euro 2024 semifinal — a objective which made him the youngest-ever objective scorer at a serious match, erasing legendary Brazil striker Pele from the report books.
Doué made his mark for PSG of their sensational 5-0 Champions League ultimate win in opposition to Inter Milan on Saturday with two objectives, changing into the youngest participant (and first teenager) to attain twice within the ultimate, eclipsing a report that had stood since Eusebio’s double for Benfica of their 5-3 win in opposition to Actual Madrid in 1962. His heroics helped him beat Yamal to the UEFA Champions League Younger Participant of the Yr prize, awarded within the wake of Saturday’s emphatic win.
As a footnote, Doué additionally beat Jude Bellingham’s report of changing into the youngest participant to register an help in a Champions League ultimate when creating Achraf Hakimi‘s opening objective.
“I haven’t got phrases to explain this night,” Doué instructed reporters after recreation. “It’s magical. We’re rewriting the historical past of our membership, and of French soccer, and it’s superb to be a part of. I attempted to make it enterprise as normal. It was one of the vital video games of the membership, however we pulled it off as a workforce and it is completely fantastic.”
Not so way back, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland had been tipped to interchange Messi and Ronaldo on soccer’s pedestal, however Actual Madrid ahead Mbappe, 26, and Manchester Metropolis’s Haaland, 24, immediately appear to be outdated males in comparison with Yamal and Doué. The 2 teenage sensations have already damaged data and written their very own pages within the historical past books.
Certainly, Yamal and Doué may face one another for the primary time on Thursday when Spain play France within the UEFA Nations League semifinal in Stuttgart, and it’s more likely to be the beginning of a rivalry — for membership, nation and particular person honors — that lasts for a decade or extra.
They’re each extremely proficient forwards, blessed with tempo, trickery and the arrogance to aim the extraordinary, they usually additionally play for 2 of the world’s largest and strongest golf equipment — Barcelona (Yamal) and PSG (Doué) — on the identical as representing their heavyweight nations, who each usually compete for World Cups and European titles.
Yamal is forward of Doué by way of fame and visibility on the world stage. He has already achieved worldwide success, serving to Spain to win Euro 2024 final 12 months, and his 18 objectives and 21 assists in all competitions for Barca this season performed a big half within the membership’s LaLiga success.
Though PSG ahead Ousmane Dembélé is the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or, along with his 33 objectives and 13 assists offering the bedrock of the membership’s treble success, Yamal is a robust contender and will but develop into the primary teenager to win the award. And with Brazil’s Ronaldo Nazario nonetheless the youngest Ballon d’Or winner in 1997 (21 years and 95 days), Yamal — and Doué — may but write him out of the report books.
Doué’s rise to stardom has occurred over the previous 12 months, since finishing a €50 million transfer from Rennes final summer season, rejecting curiosity from Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Manchester United with the intention to transfer to Parc des Princes.
However even at Rennes, Doué was making historical past. When he scored in opposition to Brest in August 2022 on the age of 17, he turned the primary participant born in 2005 to attain in any of Europe’s large 5 leagues. Six weeks later, his objective in opposition to Dynamo Kyiv within the Europa League made him the youngest-ever French scorer in European competitors (17 years, 4 months and 4 days.)
At PSG, Doué has develop into a part of Luis Enrique’s formidable ahead line alongside Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, scoring 15 objectives and registering 16 assists throughout 54 video games in all competitions, however there may be nonetheless a humility to him regardless of his unbelievable 12 months.
“We’ve a variety of younger gamers, we now have gamers who nonetheless must develop, and I’m a type of,” he mentioned in Munich. “And I’ll at all times attempt to get higher. It’s simply regular for me; a standard studying curve. After an enormous switch, I wanted time to search out my ft and settle in, however I’m brushing shoulders with the very best gamers and that helps me obtain large issues in soccer.”
Doué’s contribution to PSG’s glittering season earned him his first senior France look when he performed within the Nations League playoff in opposition to Croatia in March. He has some catching as much as do on Yamal, who has already earned 19 caps for Spain, however on Thursday in Stuttgart, we may see the primary chapter within the Doué-Yamal rivalry.
No one is ever more likely to come near matching the Messi-Ronaldo story — 13 Ballons d’Or between them does not even start to inform it — however the two gamers who’re capturing the creativeness of the subsequent era proper now are Doué and Yamal. And they’re dwelling as much as the hype.
