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Today, 21:00/ Jamal vs. "CR7", a duel of generations and a trophy in between
2025-06-08 08:28:45 / SPORT
Past versus future! A battle in the present! Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Lamin Jamal (Spain), 40 and 17 years old respectively, secured their national teams a place in the Nations League final and will face each other on Sunday in search of the trophy.
The Munich final will be a duel of generations between a player at the end of his career and another who is writing the prologue. A showdown between one of the men who defined an era alongside Lionel Messi and another who seems destined to “emulate” them. “Of course, all the players have a lot of respect for him. He is a football legend. I will do my job, which is to win. And that is it,” Jamal said, hat tipped back, at a press conference on Thursday when asked about his first career match against Cristiano Ronaldo.
IMITATION IN CELEBRATION – Jamal had just been named man of the match in the 5-4 victory over France in the semi-finals, where he scored two goals that proved decisive, just like Cristiano the day before when he scored the winning goal for Portugal in the 2-1 victory over Germany, the host country of this “Final Four”.
After scoring his second goal against the French, which temporarily made it 5-1, Jamal celebrated in a way that was directly reminiscent of one of Cristiano Ronaldo's most iconic celebrations, when he sat on an advertising billboard and smiled. Cristiano Ronaldo has donned this display on several occasions, including during his final spell with Al Nasr in Saudi Arabia, but the celebration became particularly famous when he performed it against Atletico Madrid in the 2017 Champions League semi-finals.
MIRACLE – Jamal, who turns 18 next month, undoubtedly has a long way to go to equal Cristiano Ronaldo’s career tally (137 goals for Portugal in 220 international appearances), but for now his achievements and maturity are impressive. He is one of the favourites to win the next Ballon d’Or, the most prestigious individual award in football, which Cristiano Ronaldo has won five times, the first time in 2008, when he was 23.
Still just 16, Jamal won the European Championship with Spain, a tournament the Portuguese star had won once before, in 2016, when he was 31. The young Catalan's emergence onto the football scene has earned him praise over the past two years, including from Ronaldo himself. "I think he has a lot of talent and potential. We'll see what happens along the way, but I think he'll make it," the Portuguese player said last September on former footballer Rio Ferdinand's YouTube channel.
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