The pitch where Spain forward Lamine Yamal first honed his skills in a working class, multi ethnic neighbourhood outside Barcelona was alive with excitement on 16 July, as locals looked ahead with pride to Sunday’s World Cup final against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
“Now that the moment has come when the two of them are going to play against each other, it’s incredible,” said Keba, an 18 year old Senegalese resident of the area, referring to Yamal’s well documented admiration for Messi.
Messi enjoyed the finest years of his career at Barcelona after coming through the club’s youth academy, and a viral photograph showing the Argentine holding a baby Yamal, now 19, has captured attention in the build up to Sunday’s final in New Jersey.
In the Rocafonda neighbourhood of the coastal city of Mataro, children from migrant families played football behind a mural bearing Yamal’s face, while his grandmother, Fatima Nasraoui, and his fifteen year old cousin Rayan watched on from a nearby bench.
“I want Spain to win,” Nasraoui said, adding that she would cheer loudly if he scores.
“To me, Lamine means many good things, but above all he’s like a brother because we grew up together,” his cousin added.
Yamal, born in Spain to a Moroccan father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea, has never forgotten where he came from. Throughout his career, he has paid tribute to Rocafonda with his trademark “304” hand gesture after scoring goals, a reference to the neighbourhood’s postal code. During this World Cup, he has worn a headband bearing the name Rocafonda, displayed the flags of his parents’ countries of origin on his boots, and spoken about football’s power to unite people across racial and social lines ahead of Spain’s semi-final win over France.
