Spain prodigy Lamine Yamal said winning Euro 2024 was the best birthday gift he could have asked for as the teenager capped a memorable tournament by walking off with the Best Young Player award.
Yamal, who turned 17 a day before Sunday's final, was one of the stars of the tournament as Spain claimed a historic fourth European Championship title with a 2-1 win over England in Berlin.
Spain set a new record by winning all seven of their games at the Euros, with Yamal providing some memorable moments including one of the goals of the tournament in the 2-1 win over France in the semi-finals.
He played an important part in the final, too, supplying the assist for Nico Williams to fire in Spain's opening goal.
“This is the best [birthday] gift I could have asked for. It’s a dream come true,” Yamal said. “It got tough when they tied the score, but I don’t know what this team is made of because we always fight back.”
England substitute Cole Palmer had equalised for England, but Mikel Oyarzabal clinched Spain’s win in the 86th.
Yamal set up Williams to score in the 47th minute by drifting inside Luke Shaw and playing the ball across to the left for the Athletic Bilbao winger to hit first time inside the far post. Yamal also brought two good saves from England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
“Lamine is incredible, as you’ve all seen during this tournament,” Williams said. “The sky’s the limit for him. As well as being a good player, he’s also a great person.”
Player ratings
Yamal, the son of a Moroccan father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea, became the youngest player to appear at the European Championship, the youngest to score in the tournament, and the youngest to play in a final.
Yamal plays for Barcelona, following in the footsteps of his hero, Lionel Messi, after coming through the club's famed La Masia training academy. He is the club's and the Spanish league's youngest goalscorer as well as the Spanish national team.
He finished with four assists and one goal in his debut European Championship.
Man-of-the-match Williams dedicated the win to his parents and said there was a "historical change" in the Spanish national team.
The 22-year-old winger, who like Yamal celebrated a birthday in the build up to the final, is also the son of immigrants.
Williams' parents arrived as refugees in northern Spain from Ghana and his older brother Inaki represents the African nation.
"My family has fought for this moment. This is for all of them, everyone who believed in me from the very beginning," said Williams.
"My parents have suffered a lot to get here, they've suffered the most and have instilled this respect and loyalty in me.
"At the end of the day I think footballers have a lot of impact in society and I'm really happy because we're making history."
Asked if Spain were now favourites for the 2026 World Cup, Williams replied that the immediate focus was on savouring their success in Germany.
"First of all, we need to enjoy this victory at the Euros," he said.
"Two years, two very long years, but we will take things step by step."
While Spain’s exhilarating youngsters led the charge to a record fourth European Championship, it fell to a player who has lived through the hard side of football to clinch the title.
What Oyarzabal lacks in panache he more than makes up for in his work-ethic.
“I don’t know if it was karma, fate or who knows what, but something put me in that position to score that goal,” Oyazarbal said.
Oyarzabal, a 27-year-old striker for Real Sociedad, has been a regular for Spain both under coach De la Fuente and his predecessor, Luis Enrique.
He missed out on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar due to a knee injury but made notable impacts off the bench for La Roja, none more so than in Sunday's final.
“After my injury, I am so fortunate to be able to feel this immense joy after having gone through what I went .through, I am just incredibly happy and proud,” Oyarzabal said. “It fell to me to score the winner, but it could have been any of my teammates.
“We have been here 45 days, giving it our all, and we feel like we are a family.”
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said he was proud of his team, widely considered the best at the tournament.
"This group of players can keep growing and improving because they don't get tired of it, of competing, of trying to win, of making you proud of them, from the first day until the last, now," added the coach.
"I am happy for my country, for Spain, for the excitement we generated and I hope [people] feel the same pride, thanks to all these footballers."
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
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Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
Based: New York, New York
Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The%20specs
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet