Declan Rice has called out several France players for their comments about Lamine Yamal ahead of the Euro 2024 final between England and Spain.
Yamal has been one of the stars of Euro 2024 for Spain, and is the leading contender to win the Young Player of the Tournament award.
The winger, who has turned 17 on the eve of the final, has provided three assists and scored one goal - a stunning strike in the 2-1 semi-final win over France - during the tournament.
He only made his senior Barcelona debut in April 2023, when he was still 15, but has already established himself as a first team regular and comparisons have inevitably been made to a young Lionel Messi.
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But Yamal was the subject of criticism from members of the France setup, with midfielder Adrien Rabiot claiming before the semi-final that he had to 'show more than he has done' in order to reach the final.
And manager Didier Deschamps described his goal as 'lucky' after France lost to Spain.
Rice, though, isn't listening to any detractors of the 17-year-old starlet - and gave him plenty of praise in his pre-match press conference.
He said: "As soon as we won the game the other day, I saw a stat that said he was 12 when COVID hit. That's pretty scary!
"He shows how good he is. He's 16, I don't know why the French players would talk a player down like that.
"What he's done at Barcelona as a 16-year-old, you have to applaud it. Me, as a football fan as well as a player, you have to respect it.
"Sometimes you have to say at 16, wow, it shows a lot of guts to play for Barcelona, but also to do what he's doing at his age, it's really special."
Topics:Â Declan Rice, France, Spain, England, Lamine Yamal, Euro 2024, Football
Ryan Smart