‘New York, we're coming for you,’ Lamine Yamal says after win

 "New York, we're coming for you".

Spain’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, who only turned 19 on Monday, declared on social media that his team are ready for the title clash in New York following La Roja’s masterclass against outclassed France on Tuesday night.

Shortly after Spain secured their place in only their second Fifa World Cup final, Yamal shared pictures from the match on Instagram with the caption, "nuevayol vamos por ti," which translates to, "New York, we're coming for you".

The explosive winger played a key role in Spain's victory at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, where he was one of two teenagers, alongside Pau Cubarsi, to start for La Roja. It marked the first time in Fifa World Cup history that two teenagers started for the same team in a semi-final.

Yamal made a decisive impact in the opening half when he intelligently stole possession from Lucas Digne, before being brought down inside the penalty area. The Barcelona star, who has seven international goals in 32 matches, sensed an opportunity, taking off toward Digne as the France defender was trying to clear a ball he had just headed awkwardly in his own penalty area.

The left-back didn't even see Yamal coming when he raised a leg for a clearing kick. His foot crashed into the Spain winger's thigh, and the penalty call that followed put La Roja in a position to take the lead for good. Mikel Oyarzabal converted the resulting spot-kick in the 22nd minute.

After the break, Pedro Porro combined with Dani Olmo before calmly finishing past Mike Maignan to double Spain's advantage and put the contest beyond Didier Deschamps' side.

Yamal thought he had added a third goal moments later, only for his effort to be ruled out for a marginal offside.

The Spanish youngster has scored only one goal – against Saudi Arabia in the group stage – on Spain's run to the World Cup final, but Coach Luis de la Fuente tried to say there were other things besides scoring when asked about the teen sensation the day before the match, on the Barcelona star's 19th birthday.

"This team interprets to perfection every play of the game," De la Fuente said through a translator after Spain advanced to the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday against either defending champions Argentina or England.

Yamal, who didn't talk to reporters after the match, still doesn't have an assist to go with his only goal.

"Everyone has the same direction, the same idea, being aware of what is important," Oyarzabal said in translated remarks. "In the end, you try to put what everyone has, what everyone can give to the team, to the service of the team."

When De la Fuente said on the eve of the meeting with France that he thought Yamal's big day was coming, he was talking about scoring goals.

As young as he is, Yamal has the perspective to believe scoring isn't all that matters, even though he shared the Barcelona lead in goals with Spain teammate Ferrán Torres last season with 16.

"I think that in the end, I play as I am and I will never play better than I am or worse than I really am," Yamal said in translated remarks on Monday. "So, I only give what I have, always at the service of the team, always to the maximum. So, when you give everything and you know that's what people ask you to do, you don't feel pressure."

Yamal applied the pressure during a key moment of the World Cup semi-finals, and La Roja are moving on as a result. And while the Yamal vs Kylian Mbappe match-up didn’t produce the fireworks one expected, the teenager came out on top for the sixth time in a row, having never lost a knockout match against the Frenchman.