Mounir Nasraoui / Instagram Mounir and his son Lamine Yamal together following the match
NOS Voetbal•vandaag, 11:52
There is hardly a bigger fan of Spanish European Championship hero Lamine Yamal than his father, Mounir Nasraoui. At least judging by his Instagram account, which has been a proud tribute to his son since 2017.
After midnight today, Nasraoui shared a photo of himself in a red and yellow wig – the colours of the Spanish flag – and his son sitting next to each other in a relaxation room. “Life is so beautiful, thank you God,” it reads.
His son Lamine was the star for Spain in the semi-final at the European Championship once morest France. At the age of 16 years and 362 days, the super talent became the youngest goalscorer ever at a European Championship or World Cup. Spain qualified for the European Championship final with a 2-1 victory and will play for the European title once morest the Netherlands or England on Sunday.
Watch Yamal’s stunning goal below.
Yamal scores brilliantly and becomes youngest ever goalscorer at European Championship
In the first photo on the account, Yamal was only 10 years old and playing for La Masia, FC Barcelona’s prestigious youth academy.
But the first football-related photo of his son came much earlier. Five days ago, Nasraoui shared a photo of his baby son with Lionel Messi on Instagram, taken for a charity photoshoot.
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Mounir Nasraoui / Instagram
10-year-old Lamine Yamal in Barcelona kit with a golden boot in his hand
Yamal started playing football on a field in the Rocafonda district of Mataró, a city regarding thirty kilometres from Barcelona, with the postcode: 08304. When Yamal celebrates his goals, he makes a gesture that refers to the last three digits of that code. He also did this following Spain’s first goal at the European Championship.
“He got that from a friend of his,” a peer of his told NOS. “He told Yamal: this is what you have to do if you make it as a professional footballer.”
His father also honors the neighborhood in his own way and has given his Instagram account the numbers 304.
Yamal’s (16) victory gesture is for his neighborhood: ‘He is already a figurehead here’
In the local café El Cordobés, the neighbourhood follows all of Yamal’s matches. The owner, Juan Carlos Serrano, opened the bar thirty years ago and for the past ten years Yamal’s father has been a regular customer.
“We met in the neighborhood,” Serrano told American sports website The Athletic. “We all know each other here. I saw how Mounir took his son Lamine to play football all the time, from the age of six. He always brought sandwiches that his grandmother made for him. He is very attached to his grandmother.”
No money for train
According to The Athletic, Serrano helped Nasraoui with his son’s dream. Yamal’s family sometimes mightn’t afford a train ticket and Serrano supported them. Now the almost 17-year-old attacker has a transfer fee of 90 million euros behind his name. And he is a figurehead for the neighborhood.
NOSBar El Cordobés has framed Lamine Yamal’s shirt
“Not so long ago he was still playing here on the street and I hung out with him. That he went from here to the first team of Barcelona and into the first team of Spain so quickly is unbelievable,” said a neighbour.
Next Sunday, July 14, the almost 17-year-old footballer will also be crowning his young professional career with Spain in the final of the European Championship. His father will undoubtedly give updates on his son behind the scenes.
