Poland's captain said the teenage winger entered the tournament short on match fitness after spending nearly two months on the sidelines, making it difficult for him to hit top form immediately.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cHonestly, no, we didn\u2019t see his best this tournament. For me, the best version of Lamine was two seasons ago. He\u2019s still very young, and he came to the World Cup after an injury. He hadn\u2019t played for around eight weeks, so it\u2019s very difficult to return straight into a tournament like the World Cup,\u201d Lewandowski told ESPN.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWhen you don\u2019t play for eight weeks, and then you start at the World Cup, you don\u2019t really have time to train because it\u2019s one match after another. Even then, he showed great quality. The Spain players helped Lamine, and Lamine also helped the team. That partnership worked perfectly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Yamal travelled to the World Cup after recovering from a hamstring problem that had ruled him out towards the end of Barcelona\u2019s domestic season. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente carefully managed the youngster\u2019s workload in the early stages of the tournament before gradually increasing his involvement.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 19-year-old featured in all eight of Spain\u2019s matches, scoring once and emerging as one of the tournament\u2019s most dangerous attacking players. He also completed a competition-leading 35 successful dribbles as Spain defeated Portugal, France and Argentina on their way to lifting the World Cup trophy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Lewandowski, whose Poland side did not qualify for the tournament, also revealed that he supported Spain in the final because of the strong relationships he built with several members of the squad during his time at Barcelona.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 19-year-old featured in all eight of Spain\u2019s matches, scoring once and emerging as one of the tournament\u2019s most dangerous attacking players. He also completed a competition-leading 35 successful dribbles as Spain defeated Portugal, France and Argentina on their way to lifting the World Cup trophy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI only know Leo (Messi) personally from Argentina, and he had already won the previous World Cup. I was happy for Spain because I knew they were ready to become champions. They have a very young squad and a bright future ahead of them,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n