It’s a skill Lamine Yamal creates an art form – and yet another reason why the 17-year-old is one of the most exciting players in world football.
THE Barcelona the striker used the ‘trivela’ – a shot or pass outside the boot – to provide three of his nine assists La Liga this season.
His last one came up against Majorca last week and there was one during the Barcelona derby against Espanyol on November 3, but the trivela against Villarreal in September it was a thing of beauty.
Trivela is a Portuguese word and the history behind the action that bears this name remains unclear. In Brazil, where Portuguese is the official language, these strikes are called “Tres Dedos” because they are produced using the three outer toes of the foot. The prefix “tri-” means three of something.
The most established theory to explain the trivela refers to a physical phenomenon called trivelocidade, as Professor Salvato Trigo, from the Fernando Pessoa University in the Portuguese city of Porto, explained in 2018. “Trivela would be a sort of acronym for that word. It is difficult to find another etymological origin for the word, since it only began to be used in the 20th century and is fully linked to football,” he wrote.
There is another story that is less accepted but just as relevant. According to this theory, the word trivela was used in Porto to designate buckled shoes mainly linked to higher social classes. These loops, or trivelas, were placed on the outside of the shoe, so pulling with them gave spin to the ball.
Legendary Brazilian left-back Roberto Carlos, former Portugal striker Ricardo Quaresma, Real MadridIt is Luka Modric and Brazilian attacking midfielder Rivellino, winner of the 1970 World Cup, were masters of the trivela with their free kicks, shots and passes in the past.
Today, it has become Yamal’s trademark.
“Lamine has been using him since he was very young,” said Jordi Font, who managed Yamal for Barcelona’s under-10s and picked him up from his father. house in Rocafondanorth of Barcelona, to take him to the matches, says Athletics.
“I think it comes from the street football he grew up playing. Playing on your local futsal pitch, where you can use the walls to pass the ball and dribble past players, and be a little cheeky against older opponents.
GO DEEPER
Lamine Yamal: Barcelona’s young prodigy and the proud neighborhood that shaped him
Albert Puig experienced the same thing two years later as manager of Barça’s under-12s.
“This is not a type of strike worked at La Masia (the club’s famous academy), we didn’t have instructions to apply it,” Puig said. Athletics. “I am aware that there is now a rule in Barca’s youth ranks that they want kids to play with one or two touches at most. This has pros and cons, but Lamine got that touch which we Let’s talk about allowing him to spend more time with the ball.
“At the time, Lamine still didn’t do crosses with it, like he did in Mallorca, because you have to add a layer of strength that he didn’t have yet. But carrying the ball, passing and combining with teammates, as well as finishing situations… we saw a lot of that with Lamine using the outside of his left foot.
Quaresma was a leading proponent of the trivela (Getty Images; design by Eamonn Dalton)
Before every match, Yamal likes to go to YouTube and search for videos of highlights of different players such as Neymar, his favorite player in his childhood, or another Barça predecessor, Lionel Messi. But the trivela came more naturally.
His three assists this season are testament to that, as they all came in situations where defenders couldn’t have expected that pass.
It was in this position that he received the ball against Villarreal, when he spotted Raphinha prepare to run behind the defensive line.
This is the pass he made next.
Against Espanyol last month, he provided an assist for Daniel Olmo as the attacking midfielder crashed into the box.
Then there was his last trivela against Mallorca, where his former manager Puig highlights how difficult it was for the defender to predict the pass.
“If you look at his body shape, it doesn’t look like he’s going to cut inside his left foot and dribble,” Puig says. “The defender tries to give him space to run towards his right foot, but then he succeeds.”
The teenager’s confidence has increased so much that he is now trying to score with a trivela – and I almost succeeded against Seville in October.
Yamal receives the ball on the left side of the field, near the edge of the opponent’s box, and surprises everyone with what seemed an impossible shot…
…only for the goalkeeper Orjan Nyland to produce a full power backup.
“Lamine must continue to use trivela because it has proven that it is effective, it is far from being a luxury,” explains Font. “A cross like this is extremely useful for sending the ball past the first defenders in a position to intercept the pass, because the curve makes it more difficult. Lamine will continue to try new things because his technical skills allow him to do things that others cannot think of.
Puig agrees: “His creativity, as well as the way his physique evolves, will continue to shape Lamine as a player.
“It’s not a comparison with Messibecause I don’t think it’s good to do them with Lamine, but if you look at how the Argentinian was when he started at Barça and the player he is now, it’s totally different. Messi went from a pure, super-explosive winger who started on the right side and couldn’t be stopped to a footballer who learned to manage his effort, read the game and move from a more central position, which gave Barça an incredible weapon.
“We don’t know exactly which player Lamine will develop into, but he has the talent and intelligence to keep trying new things and make them useful with the best football he can play at all times.”
Yamal’s assist against Mallorca (Getty Images; design by Eamonn Dalton)
After his latest trivela masterclass against Mallorca, Yamal was interviewed by Catalan television channel TV3.
“Is there a way to make those passes you do in video games? “, asked a journalist.
Yamal, an avid gamer, laughed as he replied: “Yes, you can, to be honest. You have to press the L2 button then succeed, go try it! I think it’s a pass I can do very well, I’m confident in it, so I won’t stop trying.
The day after the match, the city of Barcelona woke up with Yamal’s pass immortalized in its streets.
Local artist Miki Noelle turned a photo of Yamal performing a trivela into a sticker that he printed and stuck on a wall in the Gracia neighborhood. Noelle has produced various Barca-themed stickers this season, depicting their best moments so far under new coach Hansi Flick.
The Yamal sticker, topped with the caption “L2+X”, referencing how he said his pass could be replicated on PlayStation, went viral on social media. Yamal himself spotted it, shared it, and changed his Instagram profile picture for a week.
This will not be the last time that the Yamal trivelas will be revered in Barcelona.
(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)