Would Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal have made the Super Eagles squad at age 16?

Barcelona wonder kid Lamine Yamal has made headlines following his outstanding performance for the Spain national team at the Euro 2024 tournament, Soccernet.ng reports.

What has caught the eyes of many football fans is his volley that sent Spain to the final of the Euro tournament, making him the youngest player to do so at the age of 16 years and 362 days.

This has sparked a debate in the Nigerian football community about the lack of opportunities for young players like Yamal to perform in the Nigerian men’s senior national team.

In the 90s, many young Nigerian players were given call-ups at an early age and turned out to be outstanding players at the club level. However, this is rare lately.

What Makes Yamal Special?

Yamal, likened to Brazilian legend Pelé, made it to the Barcelona senior team early in his career due to his special talent and has gained recognition in the Spain team.

So far at the tournament, aside from being the youngest player to feature, he became the youngest player to secure the Man of the Match award against France.

His goal in Spain’s 2-1 victory against the French squad was his first, out of his 15 goal contributions for the Spain national team at the Euro tourney.

A recent viral image of him being bathed by Lionel Messi highlights the belief that the young lad has been blessed with the Argentine football star’s incredible achievements he would achieve in the future.

If Yamal Lamine Were Nigerian

A section of the Nigerian football community believes that someone of Yamal’s age would not be given the opportunity to play in the Super Eagles squad, which would mean his career might not shine on such a global stage.

Early players selected to the national team in the 90s, like Henry Nwosu and Celestine Babayaro—who made his Super Eagles debut vs. Uzbekistan at the Afro-Asian Cup of Nations in 1995 at the age of 16—had such opportunities.

But this has changed in the Nigerian football system, where older players are often considered ahead of young players. In the 90s, players were selected based on merit compared to the current system.

For instance, a Golden Eaglet player aged 15 to 17 cannot be called up to play for the Super Eagles team. Instead, he has a slim chance of playing for the U-20 team, let alone the Olympic Eagles, whose age limit is 23.

Reality of Yamal as a Nigerian Player

Yamal might fit well into the Golden Eaglets team, but his skills would not get him past that team unless he pushed his way further through connections or bribery, which is rare.

Even Daniel Bameyi, who was called up by Jose Peseiro in November 2022 and made his debut in Nigeria’s friendly 2-0 loss against Costa Rica, is a contentious case.

It cannot be said that Bameyi was picked on merit at that time, considering the number of players in Ladan Bosso’s defense department, such as Solomon Agbalaka, Benjamin Frederick, and Abel Ogwuche.

In conclusion, someone of Yamal’s talent would likely not have made it to the Super Eagles squad at this age. He would probably be placed in the U-12 squad to develop further before being considered, or he might still be in secondary school trying to become a doctor.