Eduardo J. Castelao Madrid

Madrid

Updated Monday, March 25, 2024-21:26

Having a minor within the national team is complex at a bureaucratic level. Spain has two.

Lamine Yamal

(16 years old) and

Pau Cubarsí

(17). Brazil has one.

Endrick

(17). In the case of the Spanish Federation, like all institutions that work with minors, it has its own Protocol for the protection of Children and Adolescents. But, to start with the most basic, those responsible for the organization of Las Rozas had to ask the parents of the boys for a signed authorization to be able to travel to London and another signed authorization to be able to take photographs and videos of them and be able to publish them.

Furthermore, everyone who is in contact with them, starting with the coach,

Luis de la Fuente

, must prove that they have no record of sexual crimes, as Marca explained last week. For example, the driver who went to pick them up at the airport also had to present that certificate. And, of course, they were accompanied to the same plane in Barcelona by one adult and picked up by another, both employees of the airline, on Monday of last week, when they traveled to Madrid.

Nor can an adult, whatever it may be, stay in a room alone with them. If the coach wants to give them individual instructions, there must be at least one other adult present. Similar protocols exist in the Brazilian Football Confederation, where early talent is even more common than in almost any other football.

Stars at the Bernabéu

These children will be in the imposing new Bernabéu today, under the influence of a commendable attempt to fight against racism. Spain and Brazil face each other, two teams that have only met nine times and that, according to the source,

"could perfectly be the semifinal or final of a World Cup

. "

Beyond the coach's hyperbole, and ignoring, if that were possible, the object of the clash, the focus could well be placed on these boys, whose ownership is not assured, but whose participation at some point in the game is certain. All the spotlights will be on them today.

Endrick, in Brazil training.KIKO HUESCAEFE

For one, Endrick,

Real Madrid paid around

35 million

in December 2022 (he was 16 years old at the time)

, which will be almost double if when he lands next summer, now a little man of legal age, he begins to meet the objectives set out in the contract. On the other hand, Lamine Yamal, they say in

Barcelona

that his club, Barça, has rejected offers that exceeded

150 million euros

, an amount that would solve many of the entity's financial problems, which are not a few. However, it seems clear that both are destined to star in a rivalry of at least a decade in the stadiums of the Spanish league.

"They give the level, and that's what matters," said

Dani Carvajal

yesterday , who is going to face his teammate in Madrid and who is going to meet, live, his future teammate. Endrick scored Brazil's winning goal against England last Saturday, and that has triggered all the praise for a kid, they say, destined to mark an era. «He is a 17-year-old player, a very good footballer, like we also have, but you have to give it time and be very cautious.

To think that he can be Pelé's replacement... almost nothing!

That is putting a lot of pressure, generating stress and a demand for which he may not be prepared in terms of maturity.

It's a disservice we're doing him if we talk like that. That is why I am in favor of these kids going calmly, developing their training process. The time will come to demand of them," said De la Fuente, who knows a lot about helping young talent mature, and has transferred that knowledge to the senior team.