If you thought the English tabloids went a bit OTT after the broken metatarsal David Beckham suffered ahead of the 2002 World Cup, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
The Spanish daily sports newspapers love drama. They feed off it.
Back in his time as Barcelona manager, Johan Cruyff coined the term ‘Entorno’ (literally ‘environment’ in English) to describe the swirling mass of noise around the club. That unending din of interference and chiming in has proven too much for many, with the likes of Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernandez – legendary figures in the club’s recent history – looking visibly exhausted by the reams of nonsense they were expected to deal with on a daily basis.
Therein lies the lifeblood of the kind of grimly fascinating, outrageously silly ecosystem of the Spanish football media landscape. Watch just five minutes of ‘El Chiringuito‘, and you’ll get the idea.
Said noise is almost always reflected through the prism of Spain’s historic big two clubs. The national team is a bit different. There isn’t quite the flag-waving fervour and tub-thumping patriotism that defined the English tabloids in the run-up to major tournaments, particularly in the early noughties.
But you best believe that they’ll take an opportunity to go into histrionic meltdown when it comes to La Roja if the situation presents itself.
And sure enough, Lamine Yamal – the nation’s biggest superstar in god knows how long – pulling up with a suspected hamstring injury is the kind of special case where they absolutely have a right to crank the dial up to full-volume alarmism.
“England’s World Cup rests on this foot” read The Sun’s headline, accompanied by a picture of Beckham’s strapped ankle, following Diego Tristan’s horror challenge.
Nearly a quarter of a century later, and any particularly unimaginative editors could easily repackage that for Yamal and a picture of his hamstring.
‘ALARMA YAMAL’ read Marca’s front-page headline this morning, ahead of the teenager going for a scan today.
It was expected to be a pretty sleepy, uneventful week for Spain.
The title race has long been wrapped up, with Barcelona boasting a nine-point lead over Real Madrid.
Atletico Madrid exist in a weird kind of purgatory, Diego Simeone frequently resting all 10 outfielders as he prepares for a potentially legacy-defining Champions League semi-final with Arsenal.
But you never know what’s around the corner.
After getting bundled over in the box, Yamal stepped up to convert the penalty – what proved to be the match-winner in Barcelona’s 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo.
But what might prove to be considerably more important that sticking it past the keeper was his grimacing reaction in the aftermath, barely wheeling away to celebrate, motioning something any seasoned football-watcher will recognise – something went twang. A hamstring pulled.
Uh oh.
You might have been forgiven for forgetting the second half of a football match took place after Yamal was withdrawn, with all attention turned to speculating about the severity of his injury and length of his absence on the sidelines.
“We’ll have to check on Lamine tomorrow; we’ll see. We have to accept it; it’s a shame for us. I hope it’s not too serious,” Barcelona manager Hansi Flick told reporters after the full-time whistle.
Based on little more than his reaction, there were early prognoses and estimations that he’ll be out for four to six weeks.
There are 53 days (seven and a half weeks) until Spain kick off their World Cup campaign against Cape Verde at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Another fortnight on top of that before they play what’s likely to be their first knockout match.
A mild or moderate Grade 1 or Grade 2 tear should see him back and available, albeit potentially rusty, for this summer’s tournament. Grade 3 and he can surely forget it, as with Estevao Willian.
A nation holds its breath.
TRY A QUIZ: The Big Lamine Yamal Quiz: 17 questions on football’s most remarkable 17-year-old
