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'Lamine is a phenomenon, he's going to win a lot,' says Cristiano Ronaldo following Nations League's victory

'Lamine is a phenomenon, he's going to win a lot,' says Cristiano Ronaldo following Nations League's victory

Business Upturn4 hours ago

Portugal has won the UEFA Nations League last night on penalties. By Ravi Kumar Jha Published on June 9, 2025, 08:43 IST
Portugal has won the UEFA Nations League last night on penalties. It was Ronaldo who won it at last in the battle between the 17-year-old and 40-year-old. The young sensation Lamine Yamal who has already won so many trophies in his career was unhappy after the loss. But, the legend Cristiano made a statement that he'll surely write in his diary. 'Lamine is going to win a lot of collective and individual titles. He's a phenomenon. He's 17, please leave him alone. He's going to win a lot of Nations League in his career,' said Cristiano following Nations League's victory
In a night that will be etched in football history, Portugal claimed the UEFA Nations League crown after a dramatic penalty shootout victory. The final was billed as a clash of generations — 40-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo versus 17-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal — and it lived up to the hype in every way.
After a hard-fought 90 minutes and extra time failed to separate the two sides, it was Ronaldo who stepped up and delivered the decisive penalty, sealing Portugal's second Nations League title and adding another chapter to his legendary career.
Yamal, who has already achieved so much at such a young age, was visibly heartbroken after the loss. The teen sensation had been instrumental throughout the tournament but couldn't crown it with a trophy this time.
Ravi kumar jha is an undergraduate student in Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia and Mass Communication. A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication and he also has a genuine interest in sports. Ravi is currently working as a journalist at Businessupturn.com

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Ronaldo and Neves fire Portugal to UEFA Nations League glory
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The Roshn Saudi League is celebrating another major international success after Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruben Neves came up trumps for Portugal to claim the UEFA Nations League title on Sunday. The RSL pair, of course representing Riyadh sides Al Nassr and Al Hilal respectively, played a major role in their country's penalty-shootout victory against Spain at Allianz Arena in Munich. Advertisement Ronaldo, the RSL top scorer in the past two seasons, netted the all-important equaliser just after the hour of a gripping final, his drilled finish making it 2-2 on the night. Sparking wild scenes among the Portugal fans, it marked Ronaldo's record-extending 138th senior international goal. Ronaldo was already increasing another record mark: this represented his 221st appearance for Portugal – no other male footballer has more international caps. The Al Nassr captain had to leave the pitch with two minutes of normal time remaining because of injury, but he was a vocal presence on the sidelines as Portugal prevailed on penalties. Advertisement Neves, his compatriot at city rivals Al Hilal, fired home the winning spot-kick as Roberto Martinez's men triumphed 5-4 in the shootout. Ronaldo was soon back on the pitch to hoist aloft the trophy, his third with Portugal following the 2016 UEFA European Championship and the 2019 UEFA Nations League. 'I have many titles with my clubs, but nothing is better than winning for Portugal," said Ronaldo, who finished the campaign with eight goals, including the winner in the semi-final against Germany. 'These are tears. It's mission accomplished and so much love.' Admitting that he was carrying an injury coming into the final, the five-time Ballon d'Or said: 'For the national team, if I had to break my leg, I would have broken it. Advertisement 'I have lived in many countries, I have played for many clubs, but when it's about Portugal, it is always a special feeling." Portugal's success makes it the second successive summer the RSL has been home to major winners on the international stage. Last year, Al Nassr's Aymeric Laporte was an integral part of the Spain side who lifted the 2024 Euros, also in Germany. Nacho, the current Al Qadsiah captain, was in that victorious team too – his move to the Kingdom, from freshly minted European champions Real Madrid, was confirmed only weeks before.

Cristiano Ronaldo wins Nations League aged 40: ‘For Portugal, if I had to break a leg, I would'
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Cristiano Ronaldo wins Nations League aged 40: ‘For Portugal, if I had to break a leg, I would'

In the end it was the 40-year-old man who was crying. Not the child with the runners-up medal. They were tears of joy as Cristiano Ronaldo, overcome with emotion, dropped to his knees after Ruben Neves converted the penalty that won Portugal the UEFA Nations League for the second time in six years. Love him or loathe him, Ronaldo has a magnetic attraction to silverware and nothing gives him greater satisfaction than celebrating success with his country. Advertisement His third trophy with Portugal was won on a night when the subplot involving him and Lamine Yamal was too good to ignore. Comparing players across different generations is always difficult, especially when the game changes so much over time. But what about when two great players from different generations end up playing in the same game? 'One is coming in and another is exiting the stage. If you want to see me as another generation, then that's OK,' Ronaldo said on the eve of Sunday's final in Munich. It's hard to see Ronaldo any other way when Yamal is on the pitch with him. Yamal, after all, is only 17 years old. Ronaldo is 40. Yamal's father is younger than Ronaldo, and Yamal is only three years older than Ronaldo's eldest son, Cristiano Jr, who plays for Portugal Under-15s. A 23-year age gap on the pitch is unprecedented at a level of the game where fortysomethings are typically enjoying retirement or management and 17-year-olds are nowhere to be seen. That said, there's nothing about Ronaldo or Yamal that's typical. One of them belongs near the top of any conversation about the greatest ever footballers ('I am the best in history,' Ronaldo told the journalist Edu Aguirre in February). The other is a teenage phenomenon who is one of the leading contenders for the Ballon d'Or at an age when he still isn't old enough to drive a car in Spain. 'Two galaxies colliding' was the headline above the match preview in the Spanish newspaper Marca. Ultimately, though, it was a 22-year-old left-back who played like he was on another planet. Nuno Mendes, the Portugal and Paris Saint-Germain defender, was the best player on the pitch by a distance, so much so that he did more to shape the narrative around the Ronaldo and Yamal contest than anyone else, including both of them. After scoring Portugal's first equaliser with a powerful angled drive, Mendes set up the second, which Ronaldo converted to register his 138th goal for his country in 221 caps. Either side of those two goals, Mendes was outstanding up against Yamal, handling the Barcelona winger as well as – if not better – than anyone we have seen up until now. Yamal was withdrawn during the interval in extra-time, by which point he had spent longer chasing Mendes than Mendes had spent chasing him. Quite simply, it wasn't Yamal's night and you got the feeling that it might turn out that way as early as the fourth minute, when Ronaldo, of all people, dispossessed him and launched a Portugal counter attack. Advertisement There's no need for a post-mortem into where it all went wrong for Yamal. He's still a kid. In fact, maybe we already expect too much from him and assume he will be brilliant every time he sets foot on the pitch, just as he was against France in the semi-final in Stuttgart on Thursday night. That, however, is not how elite football works. 'Let him grow, do not put him under pressure, so we can enjoy a talent like this for many years,' Ronaldo warned beforehand. How much longer we will enjoy Ronaldo's talent is anyone's guess. In the eyes of many, he has been out of sight and out of mind ever since leaving Manchester United in December 2022 to sign for the Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr. For Portugal, however, he remains a permanent fixture in their starting line-up and you get the feeling that will continue to be the case until the day he decides otherwise, rather than any manager. Against Spain, he only touched the ball 22 times and registered just one shot. In fact, he was on the periphery of the game for the first hour and generally making little in the way of a meaningful contribution, to the point that you briefly found yourself wondering whether Roberto Martinez, the Portugal coach, would have the courage and conviction to substitute his captain in search of some more dynamic movement up front and the second equaliser they badly needed. That thought didn't last long. Or, to put it another way, it lasted about as long as it took Mendes to sprint away from Yamal on the Portugal left and deliver a deflected cross that looped up invitingly for Ronaldo. Although Marc Cucurella was close by, realistically there was only going to be one winner and Ronaldo volleyed home. His pace has gone now but the instinct to be in the right place at the right time when a chance comes along is as strong as ever. It was the 938th goal of Ronaldo's career – a silly number, really – and extended his own record as the leading scorer in international football in the men's game (138). 'I have not seen anyone like me. Numbers don't lie,' he said in that same interview with Aguirre in February. There's an argument we haven't seen anyone like Yamal either, certainly not in the modern game at his age. This was his 21st cap for Spain (15 direct goal involvements) and he has already played 106 times for Barcelona, scoring 25 goals and registering 34 assists for his club (per Transfermarkt). Advertisement To put those figures into perspective, when Ronaldo was Yamal's age he was still eight months away from winning his first cap for Portugal and he had featured in only 16 first-team matches for Sporting Lisbon (Lionel Messi hadn't made his debut for Argentina either at that age, in case you were wondering). Yamal's numbers are off the scale in that respect and if he continues on this trajectory, by the time he reaches Ronaldo's age he will be… don't worry, we're not going to project nearly a quarter of a century of football on the back of two seasons as a teenager. What we wouldn't rule out, though, is that Ronaldo will still be playing for Portugal at that point, keeping an ever-patient Goncalo Ramos out of the team at the age of 63. Ramos replaced Ronaldo in the 88th minute against Spain – a decision that Ronaldo essentially made himself when he dropped to the floor in the centre circle, bringing the game to a halt and cursing into the night sky after his body finally gave up on him. 'I had already felt it during the warm-up, I had been feeling it for some time,' he explained, via Record. 'But for the national team, if I had to break a leg, I would. It's a title, I had to play and I gave my all, I went as far as I could. I helped with a goal.' Whatever anyone thinks of Ronaldo, his desire to play, score and win burns as fiercely as ever, and the joy on his face in the scenes of celebration at the end was almost child-like. Yamal, Ronaldo said afterwards, is a 'phenomenon' who is going to 'win many titles and have a very long career.' It's hard to argue with any of that. Whether Yamal will be winning them at the age of 40, though, is a different matter. ()

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The 2025 Ballon d'Or race has been one of the most exciting in recent years, with two standout stars, Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembélé, emerging as frontrunners. After Spain's defeat to Portugal in the UEFA Nations League final (5-3 on penalties), the debate over who will claim football's most prestigious individual award has intensified. The Nations League Final: A Turning Point? Spain's loss to Portugal in the UEFA Nations League final on June 9, 2025, was a blow to Lamine Yamal's hopes of adding another international title to his resume. Despite scoring a brace in Spain's thrilling 5-4 semifinal victory over France, Yamal's performance in the final was less impactful, as Portugal's resilience and penalty shootout prowess secured the title. Ousmane Dembélé, who did not feature in the final due to France's elimination, remains a strong contender thanks to his trophy-laden season with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Let's break down their credentials and assess who holds the edge. Lamine Yamal At just 17 years old, Lamine Yamal has taken the football world by storm. The Barcelona winger has already achieved feats that most players can only dream of, including winning the European Championship with Spain in 2024, La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona. His 2024/25 season statistics are staggering for a player of his age: Matches Played: 55 55 Goals: 18 18 Assists: 25 25 Key Achievements: Domestic treble with Barcelona and named in Champions League team of the year. Ousmane Dembélé Ousmane Dembélé's 2024/25 season has been a remarkable turnaround for a player once criticized for unfulfilled potential. Now 28, the PSG forward has silenced doubters with an outstanding campaign, leading his club to a historic Champions League title, alongside Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, and the French Super Cup. His season stats are equally impressive: Matches Played: 50 50 Goals: 33 33 Assists: 15 15 Key Achievements: Champions League winner, Ligue 1 Golden Boot, Champions League Player of the Season Who Has the Edge? The 2025 Ballon d'Or race between Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembélé is a clash of youth and experience, potential and proven success. While Spain's defeat to Portugal may have tipped the scales slightly, Dembélé's Champions League success keeps him in the lead for now. However, Yamal's meteoric rise and unforgettable performances could make history if voters prioritize individual brilliance. The ceremony on September 22, 2025, will reveal the winner of this thrilling contest. BALLON D'ORLamine YamalOusmane Dembele Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at

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