Kylian Mbappe could only watch on in awe as Lamine Yamal produced one of those 'I was there' moments... Spain's teenage superstar is more than just a special talent, he is a born winner

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It had just gone past midnight and deep in the bowels of the Allianz Arena, a 16-year-old footballer walked into a room of adults with his Player of the Match trophy and began to take questions.

Just minutes earlier, the Spain coach Luis de la Fuente had made the point that football must 'take care' of Lamine Yamal when he was asked about the goal that will be talked about for years and decades to come. A strike that his manager simply declared as a 'touch of genius.'

Everyone already knew about this wonderkid, who had to take his homework to the Euros, but this was one of those generational moments that cemented his status as the brightest talent in football.

At the other end, Kylian Mbappe could only watch on in awe. Mbappe was only 19 when he announced himself at the 2018 World Cup. Yamal turns 17 on Saturday.

The boy recalled watching the last Euros with his friends in a shopping centre near his hometown of Rofaconda, then talked about how he didn't want a birthday present and had told his mother that winning the Euros on Sunday would be the perfect gift.

Lamine Yamal was the star of the show as Spain beat France 2-1 in Tuesday's Euros semi-final

Yamal helped Spain overcome a France side led by former wonderkid Kylian Mbappe (right)

'I was aiming for exactly the top corner where my shot went in and that was a feeling of pure elation,' he said, as if it was that simple. In the arena where Arjen Robben so often cut in from the right wing and curled the ball in, this was a hit that Robben would have been proud of.

When Mail Sport spoke to those inside the Spanish camp before their quarter-final against Germany, the common theme was that Yamal treated games like he was in a 'schoolyard with his friends,' playing with all the joy of youth, expressing his gift and with none of the pressure.

Against Germany, De la Fuente took Yamal off early in the 63rd minute because he was struggling to track back and nearly lived to regret that decision. Once Nico Williams was replaced too, Spain barely had an outlet and were fortunate that Germany failed to convert their chances before Mikel Merino's late winner.

In Munich, he kept Yamal on and when he tactically fouled Theo Hernandez and picked up a booking with minutes left on the clock, it was proof of a born winner, rather than just a special talent.

'He looks like a much more experienced player to be honest,' said De la Fuente. 'I celebrate that he is in our team and that he is Spanish. We count on him and hope we can enjoy him for years to come,' he added.

Yamal found the net with stunning equaliser to become the youngest scorer in Euros history

As well as his talent, Yamal showed good game management by making a tactical foul late on

It was De la Fuente who gave Yamal his Spain debut last September in what was then seen as a way to stop Morocco taking him.

But surely even he could not have foreseen that Yamal would be influential in taking La Roja to their first final since 2012.

When the final whistle went, Yamal shouted 'Habla', meaning 'Speak now', into a camera.

'The person I'm talking about will know,' he said afterwards, in a nod to Adrien Rabiot's comments pre-match that the wonderkid had to do more. No English or Dutch players will be making that mistake for sure.

At around 2am local time, a picture dropped on Instagram of Yamal and his father, Mounir, sat inside the Spain team hotel. Mounir was sat in a Yamal jersey with a wig in Spanish colours, beaming with happiness.

Yamal's dad Mounir pictured in Germany wearing a Spain shirt with his son's name and number

After starring in Spain's semi-final win over France, 16-year-old Yamal relaxed with his father

'How beautiful is life like this, thank you my God,' read the caption on Mounir's account. For Mounir, from Morocco, and Yamal's mother Sheila, from Equatorial Guinea, what a life indeed. From across seas and borders to Rofaconda in Mataro and now to Berlin via Barcelona, the most beautiful of stories.

Marco van Basten was 23 when he scored the volley that took the Netherlands to Euro 1988. Paul Gascoigne was 29 when he scored one of the great goals at Euro 1996. Yet nothing will ever compare to the night that 16-year-old Lamine Yamal produced one of those 'I was there' moments. What talent, what joy.