Doing your final school exams is stressful enough without almost 50 million people pinning their footballing hopes on you. Lamine Yamal knows no different.
Welcome to the world of Spain’s 16-year-old boy king, balancer-in-chief of school commitments and sporting stardom.
On Tuesday night Yamal scored a stunner against France to help send Spain through to the Euro 2024 final, where they could face England, less than two weeks after discovering his school grades.
Scoring a late winner in PE is the height of many people’s footballing career. For Yamal, hailed by his manager as a ‘genius’ and once washed as a baby by Lionel Messi, there are bigger fish to fry.
Just ask Barcelona – so determined are they to keep hold of Yamal that they have a clause in his contract demanding £868million from anybody who wants to buy him. So, who is Yamal, a potential successor to Messi still wearing braces?
To understand Spain’s breakout star, it’s worth taking a close look at his family.
Yamal was born in Barcelona in 2007 to a Moroccan father, Mounir, and his mother Sheila from Equatorial Guinea. Both flags of those boots are sewn into his customised boots in a sign that he has not lost sight of his roots.
One thing that is striking is how supportive his family appears. After his wondergoal on Tuesday, his sister was in tears in the stands in Munich while his mother was seen embracing another family member.
Yamal was first spotted by Barcelona aged seven. One look was enough for the scout and before he knew it, the youngster was part of the iconic La Masia academy, which has reared some of the greatest players ever.
As a baby, Yamal was washed by Barcelona hero Messi in club calendar photoshoot. The photo went viral recently when Yamal’s father shared it on Instagram, dubbing it the ‘beginning of two legends’.
Credit: dailymail.co.uk
