It’s a feat of craftsmanship that turns Lamine Yamal into an art form – and another reason why the 17-year-old is one of the most exciting players in world football.
The Barcelona forward has used the ‘trivela’ (a shot or pass from outside the boot) to provide three of his nine assists in La Liga this season.
His last was against Mallorca last week and there was one in Barcelona’s derby against Espanyol on November 3, but the trivela against Villarreal in September was a thing of beauty.
Trivela is a Portuguese word and the story behind the action given that name remains unclear. In Brazil, where Portuguese is the official language, such strokes are called ‘Tres Dedos’ because they are performed using the three outer toes of your 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, of the Fernando Pessoa University in the Portuguese city of Porto, 2018 explained. “Trivela would be a kind of acronym for that word. It is difficult to find another etymological origin for the word because it was only used in the 20th century and was completely related to football,” he wrote.
There is another less accepted but equally fitting story. According to this theory, in Porto the word trivela was used to refer to shoes with buckles, mainly associated with higher social classes. These buckles, or trivelas, were placed on the outside of the shoe so that shooting them caused the ball to spin.
Legendary Brazilian left-back Roberto Carlos, former Portuguese striker Ricardo Quaresma, Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and 1970 World Cup-winning Brazilian attacking midfielder Rivellino have been masters of the trivela in the past with their free kicks, shots and passes.
Today it becomes Yamal’s trademark.
“Lamine has been using this from a very young age,” says Jordi Font, who managed Yamal at Barcelona under-10s and picked him up from his father’s house in Rocafonda, north of Barcelona, to take him to matches. The Athletics.
“I think it comes from the street football he grew up in. Playing on his neighborhood indoor soccer field, where you can use the walls to pass the ball and dribble past players, and be a bit cheeky when playing against older opponents.”
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Albert Puig saw the same thing two years later as manager of Barça under-12s.
“This is not the kind of strike that is being worked on in La Masia (the club’s famous academy), we had no instructions to implement it,” Puig said. The Athletics. “I am aware that there is now a rule in the Barcelona youth academy that they want children to play with a maximum of one or two touches. This has pros and cons, but Lamine has acquired this touch that we are talking about, because he has more time with the ball.
“In the past, Lamine still didn’t do crosses with it, like in Mallorca, because you have to add a layer of strength that he didn’t have yet. But carrying, passing and combining with his teammates, but also finishing situations… we have seen many where Lamine used the outside of his left foot.’
Quaresma was one of the leading proponents of the trivela (Getty Images; design by Eamonn Dalton)
Before starting a match, Yamal likes to search YouTube for highlight videos of different players, such as Neymar, his favorite player growing up, or another Barcelona predecessor, Lionel Messi. But the trivela has become more natural.
All three of his trivela assists this season account for that, as they all came in situations where defenders couldn’t expect that pass.
This is the position where he received the ball against Villarreal, when he saw Raphinha preparing to run behind the defensive line.
This is the pass he made then.
Against Espanyol last month, he provided a trivela assist for Dani Olmo when the attacking midfielder crashed into the penalty area.
Then there was his most recent trivela against Mallorca, where his former manager Puig highlighted 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 and dribble into his left foot,” Puig said. “The defender tries to give him space to run towards his right foot, but then he pulls off his trick.”
The teenager’s self-confidence has grown so much that he is now trying score with a trivela – and almost succeeded against Sevilla in October.
Yamal receives the ball on the left side of the pitch, near the edge of the opponent’s penalty area, and surprised everyone with what seemed an impossible shot…
… only for goalkeeper Orjan Nyland to produce a save at full speed.
“Lamine should continue using the trivela because it has proven to be effective, it is far from a luxury touch,” says Font. “A cross like this is extremely useful in sending the ball past the first defenders in position to intercept the pass, as the bend makes it more difficult. Lamine continues to try new things because his technical skills allow him to do things that others cannot think of.”
Puig agrees: “His creativity, along with the way his physicality evolves, will continue to shape Lamine as a player.
“That’s not a comparison with Messi because I don’t think it’s right to make it with Lamine, but if you look at what the Argentinian was like when he started at Barcelona and the player he is now, it’s completely different . Messi went from a thoroughly, super-explosive winger who started on the right and was unstoppable, to a footballer who learned how to manage his efforts, read the game and roam from a more central position. which gave Barca an incredible weapon.
“We don’t know exactly what player Lamine will evolve 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 any time.”
Yamal’s trivela assist against Mallorca (Getty Images; design by Eamonn Dalton)
After his last trivela masterclass against Mallorca, Yamal was interviewed by Catalan television station TV3.
“Is there a way to use the steps you do in video games?” one journalist asked.
Yamal, an avid gamer, laughed as he replied: “Yes, you can, to be honest. You have to press the L2 button and then pass, go and try it! I think it is a pass that I can do very well, I am confident, so I will not stop trying.”
The morning after the match, the city of Barcelona woke up with Yamal’s pass immortalized in the streets.
Local artist Miki Noelle turned a photo of Yamal performing a trivela into a sticker that he printed and posted on a wall in the Gracia neighborhood. Noelle has produced several Barca-themed stickers this season, illustrating their best moments yet under new coach Hansi Flick.
The Yamal sticker, which featured the caption “L2 + X” in reference to how he said his pass could be replicated on PlayStation, went viral on social media. Yamal himself saw it, shared it and changed his Instagram profile picture to it for a week.
It will not be the last time that Yamal’s trivelas will be honored in Barcelona.
(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)