People play in a soccer court in a park at the Rocafonda neighbourhood, where soccer player Lamine Yamal grew up, in Mataro, north of Barcelona, Spain, July 11, 2024. REUTERS/Albert Gea
MATARO, Spain (Reuters) - In the working-class, multi-ethnic Barcelona suburb where Lamine Yamal grew up, the stunning rise of Spain's soccer wonderkid in the European Championship generates both intense pride and hope.
The Barcelona winger, who turns 17 on Saturday, celebrates his goals gesturing 304 with his fingers in a nod to the 08304 postal code of the Rocafonda neighbourhood, in the coastal city of Mataro, where he grew up and where his father and grandmother live.
"My son is like any other kid. He has fought for a dream and has had the opportunity to achieve it," said his jubilant father, Mounir Nasraoui, 38, dressed with Lamine Yamal's Spanish national jersey at a local bar where people took selfies and embraced him.
He forecasts Spain will beat England 3-0 in Sunday's Euro 2024 final in Berlin, which he will attend.
The El Cordobes bar, with a framed signed jersey of Lamine Yamal hung on a wall, witnessed the family's early financial struggles.
Nasraoui would be given his coffee for free so he could instead use his money for a train ride to take his son for training at Barcelona's academy, said the bar's owner Juan Carlos Serrano.
"This jersey is the pride of the neighbourhood, man!," said Serrano.
"Lamine is the prototype of a kid who has had to work hard, who has been a good student and just graduated from secondary school," he added. "For this reason, he is a mirror for children."
Rocafonda is among Mataro's neighbourhoods with the lowest household income and most residents were born outside the Catalonia region and Spain, primarily in Morocco.
Lamine Yamal was born in Spain from a Moroccan father and an Equatorial Guinea mother, who lives in a nearby town. He joined Barcelona's academy when he was six and moved to live in the city aged 11, his father said.
On Tuesday, he became the youngest player to score in a World Cup or Euros with a sublime 25-metre strike against France.
He also lifted Rocafonda's self-esteem.
"People used to be ashamed of saying they are from here. This is a very humble neighbourhood where people make 1,000 euros a month," said 28 year-old Sufian, born from Moroccan parents. "Now people that are not even from Rocafonda or Mataro, say: I am from 304!".
At Rocafonda's asphalt pitch where Yamal used to play soccer, young people from Moroccan and Senegalese origin say they dream of following in his footsteps, echoing the humble neighbourhoods where other stars grew up such as Argentina's Lionel Messi and France's Kylian Mbappe.
Lamine Yamal, who is Black, also represents how Spain has become more ethnically diverse in recent decades due to migration from Africa and Latin America.
His success also comes at a significant political moment. Spain's far-right party Vox, with a strong anti-migration rhetoric, on Thursday announced it would break five regional government coalitions with the centre-right People's Party over disagreements on the shelter policy for under-18 migrants.
"Lamine's goal (on Tuesday) was not only a goal, it also sent the message that racism is over and that we are all the same," said Sufian.
(This story has been refiled to add the full name of Lamine Yamal throughout)
(Reporting by Joan Faus and Horaci Garcia, Writing by Joan Faus; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
