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Lamine Yamal is prominently displayed outside Atlanta’s stadium with giant skyscraper advertisements showcasing the 18-year-old, yet Spain desperately needs the Barcelona superstar on the pitch.
The European champions flunked their opening test of the World Cup, drawing 0-0 against debutants Cape Verde, sparking doubts over their status as one of the pre-tournament favorites.
Yamal was kept in reserve until the final quarter as he is nursed back to full fitness from a hamstring injury that had kept him sidelined for nearly two months.
Even if it did not ultimately break the deadlock, his sheer presence immediately changed the game.
The majority of the 68,000 crowd in Atlanta that had come to see one of the game's biggest stars finally had something to get excited about. Spain's pedestrian passing game also at last had an outlet to stretch the Cape Verde defense.
"Lamine is undoubtedly a special player. He has great ability to beat his man and disrupt the opposition's defensive shape," said Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino.
"Given Lamine's quality, he can influence any game at any moment."
Yamal became a household name with his starring role as a 16-year-old when Spain swept all before them to win Euro 2024 (the quadrennial European Men's Football Championship).
His blend of speed, skill and goal threat on the right was complemented by Nico Williams on the left wing.
Williams' own injury-disrupted season meant he only came off the bench against Cape Verde for the final few minutes plus stoppage time.
Without the direct ability of both to beat a man one-on-one, Spain regressed to the impotent side that has struggled on the World Cup stage since they lifted the trophy for the first time in 2010.
In the 16 years since, La Roja (the nickname for the Spanish national football team) has won three of 12 World Cup games.
Moreover, they have completed 2,500 passes since they even scored a goal, as their dominance of the ball counted for little against Japan and Morocco four years ago and rarely troubled a Cape Verde side ranked 67 in the world.
"Lamine showed exactly what he's capable of the moment he stepped onto the pitch," said Spain boss Luis de la Fuente. "He forced the opposition to change their approach, but that was the amount of playing time we felt was right for him."
De la Fuente has stressed the need not to panic.
Spain is unbeaten in 32 competitive games stretching back over three years.
"Don't have any doubt," Yamal wrote on social media despite the disappointment on his World Cup debut.
"We know this is a long competition and the objective is still far off. We will keep working and everything will work out how we want."
The longer format of the first-ever 48-team World Cup does allow for the contenders to build into the competition slowly.
One win in their next two games against Saudi Arabia or Uruguay should see them into the knockout stages.
But any doubt over the importance of Yamal to his nation's chance of fulfilling their ambition of a second World Cup victory has been resoundingly answered, though not how De la Fuente would have wanted.
The pressure is now on for him to start Yamal, possibly earlier than he envisioned, against Saudi Arabia back in Atlanta on Sunday.
Just days after the Spain boss boasted at the depth of his squad, making it "the best" in the competition, La Roja looks reliant on their teenage superstar and his remaining fit in the grueling weeks to come.
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