A reporter asked Lamine Yamal how he handles the pressure of carrying Spain at 18. His answer: my mother had me when she was 16, that's real pressure. My father picked things off the street to bring food home, that's pressure. All I have to do is play football.
That's the whole story of who he is, and most fans only know the surface of it.
Before he was born, his teenage parents fell behind on rent. Two neighbors named Lamine and Yamal covered them, and his father vowed his son would carry both names forever. His legal name is a permanent record of a debt his family couldn't repay in money. In Arabic, the names mean "the trustworthy" and "beauty."
His parents split when he was around 5. His mother raised him in Granollers on a fast food wage. And here's the detail almost nobody knows: that job is the reason he became a footballer. Through work she met the daughter of the youth coordinator at CF La Torreta, his first club. When she worried she couldn't cover the fees, he told her that if the boy wants to play, money will never be the reason he can't.
As a kid, Lamine told his parents: if you're counting on me getting a normal job, we're in trouble. But if I become a footballer, you'll never have to worry again.
He signed with Barcelona at 7. He was right by 15.
Every goal, he flashes 304 with his fingers. The end of 08304, the postal code of Rocafonda, the neighborhood where strangers paid his family's rent before he existed. It gets credited on every goal since.
Today, at 19, he plays for the World Cup. And if he scores tonight, somewhere in the biggest broadcast on Earth, two neighbors will hear their names, and a postal code will flash on 2 billion screens.
He didn't want a room full of crying people, so he pulled off the ultimate funeral prank
In October 2019, Shay Bradley, a 62-year-old Irish Defence Force veteran, loving father, and grandfather, was battling a long-term illness and knew his time was short. He and his son secretly recorded a hilarious audio track. As his coffin was lowered into the ground in South County Dublin, Ireland, a hidden speaker suddenly started playing the recording.
🇨🇮👮🏽♂️ Rougeo et Blanchard, deux légendes urbaines de la lutte contre la violence et la criminalité.
Rougeo (à gauche) était un indic qui fut plus tard enrôlé par la police en raison de ses performances remarquables, malheureusement ses méthodes brutales ont éclaboussé son parcours parce qu'il ne faisait pas de prisonniers.
Blanchard (à droite) était un élément de la SAVAC, cette branche de la police ivoirienne qui travaillait avec l'amour de la patrie. En leur temps (sous Houphouët-Boigny, Bédié et Gbagbo), les jeunes braqueurs et criminels étaient constamment inquiets. Leurs vies étaient menacées en permanence, et leur activité criminelle ne leur procurait aucune sécurité.
Aujourd'hui, ce sont plutôt les internautes et les libres penseurs qui sont inquiétés pendant que des tueurs en série se promènent librement avec des machettes.
🔴 Rougeaud parle ! Il fut l'un des policiers les plus craints par les microbes égorgeurs. Évincé de la Police Judiciaire et jeté en prison pour avoir abattu plusieurs microbes, il ne peut plus servir le peuple ivoirien au moment où celui-ci a le plus besoin de lui.
Ramenez Rougeaud dans la police !
🚨| BREAKING: Speed sends a desperate message to Lamine Yamal ahead of the Spain vs Argentina World Cup Final
“LAMINE, PLEASE BEAT ARGENTINA… SAVE ME! If Messi wins the World Cup, I won’t have anything left to say as a Ronaldo fan.” 😭😭😭