According to Mundo Deportivo, despite Barcelona's rising star Lamine Yamal delivering an overwhelming performance during the international break, Spanish domestic media appears more inclined to view French star Kilian Mbappé and English striker Harry Kane as stronger Ballon d'Or contenders. This "cold treatment" of homegrown talent has sparked widespread debate.

This week, Spanish media and social media opinion leaders have had to acknowledge one fact: Yamal is an exceptional talent operating on a different level from his peers. He scored three goals in two matches, and his dribbling and assists (despite Ferran Torres squandering numerous chances!) are unparalleled. In the Spanish national team, he demonstrated outstanding skill, talent, and match impact. The national team jersey is never a light burden. When wearing La Roja, Yamal is no longer an overhyped teenager with questionable arm bandages, petulant and lacking team spirit.

Yet despite Yamal's brilliant week with the national team and the Ballon d'Or voting already having closed, major media outlets have not prominently championed him for the award. In fact, before the international break, one might have thought Spain's media Ballon d'Or favorite was the French player Kilian Mbappé or a quiet English player. Before the break, there was an overflow of in-depth interviews with Kilian Mbappé and feature articles praising Harry Kane's goals and match impact.

This is a peculiar phenomenon. Spanish media has an uncontroversial world-class talent in their own country with very strong reasons to compete for the trophy. Yet in the contest between Yamal and Kilian Mbappé, the media's stance is at best ambiguous and uncertain. A similar situation occurred when Rodri won the Ballon d'Or, leaving those who had prematurely overrated Vinícius bewildered. While Rodri (Madrid native and national team leader) made several headlines as the winner, he still shared the spotlight with the psychological drama of Real Madrid's Brazilian winger's disappointment.

In many cases, Spanish domestic media functions more as a spokesperson for Real Madrid than as a loyal supporter of the Spanish national team. Yamal is a product of Barcelona's La Masia academy, and his emergence coincides with the worst period of the club's decline, described as "Milanization." Therefore, unless there is undeniable evidence otherwise, praise for him will always be restrained—as it was years ago with Messi, and as it is today with Pep Guardiola.

Barcelona players, their youth system, and their football style have played a crucial role in Spain's success twice: once during the 2008-2012 Euro-World Cup-Euro grand slam period, and again now. Back then, commentators shamelessly claimed Barcelona had mimicked Luis Aragonés' Spanish team's style and philosophy, or that the key to success lay with Xavi Alonso. Now Yamal's World Cup performance is criticized, Pedri is questioned, everyone waits for Cubarsí to make a mistake, while fullbacks or their backups receive widespread praise.

But Yamal's case is particularly striking. When there is a homegrown star of his caliber from a place like Rocafort, it is hard to imagine French, English, or Italian media so strongly backing foreign players. In other words, imagine what those supporting Kilian Mbappé while dismissing Yamal would say if Yamal wore Real Madrid's pure white jersey instead of Barcelona's red-and-blue.

AI 번역.

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