The football pitch where Spain star Lamine Yamal first learned the game was full of excitement on Thursday as people in his hometown looked forward to the World Cup final against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
In Rocafonda, a working-class, multicultural neighbourhood near Barcelona, locals were proud to see one of their own preparing for the biggest match of his career.
“Now that the moment has finally come for the two of them to face each other, it’s unbelievable,” 18-year-old Keba told Reuters, a resident of Senegalese origin, referring to Yamal’s long-standing admiration for Messi.
Messi, 39, spent the best years of his career at Barcelona after rising through the club’s famous academy. Ahead of Sunday’s final in New Jersey, a viral photo of Messi holding a baby Yamal has added another special touch to the story.
On a football pitch in Rocafonda, where a mural of Yamal stands nearby, children from migrant families continued to play the game he once loved. Watching them from a bench were Yamal’s grandmother, Fatima Nasraoui, and his 15-year-old cousin, Rayan.
“I want Spain to win,” his grandmother said with a smile. “I’ll shout loudly if Lamine scores.”
“For me, Lamine means a lot,” Rayan said. “More than anything, he’s like a brother because we grew up together.”
Born in Spain to a Moroccan father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea, Yamal has always stayed connected to his roots. Every time he scores, he celebrates with his trademark “304” hand gesture, a tribute to Rocafonda’s postal code.
During this World Cup, he has also worn a headband with “Rocafonda” written on it, displayed the flags of his parents’ home countries on his boots, and spoken about football as a symbol of racial and social unity.
