At the age of 17, Lamine Yamal has already finished high school, became a football star, won the EURO 2024 and is in Barcelona‘s starting 11. But in his Rocafonda neighborhood in Mataró, near Barcelona, some neighbours are still whispering about his ‘betrayal‘ of Morocco. So, here comes his grandmother to explain to everybody that her grandson is a Spaniard. Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, a 32-year-old painter, hails from Morocco. His mother, Sheila Ebana, is an Equatorial Guinean waitress. The family’s Spanish connection began in 1988 when Lamine’s paternal grandmother moved to Spain. Born and raised in Spain, Yamal was part of Spain’s national setup from the U15 to U19 levels. Despite high hopes from Moroccan fans that he would represent the Lions of the Atlas, that never happened. Fouzi Lekjaa, President of FRMF, expressed his respects for Yamal’s choice, acknowledging it as a natural part of international football dynamics. But in August 2023, Morocco national coach Walid Regragui had dined with Yamal at the restaurant (photos were published) and he acknowledged meeting the young star but conceded that efforts to change his allegiance had been unsuccessful.Yamal, local pride and his beloved RocafondaBut some people are still a bit annoyed by this fact.”He was born and studied here, that child is not from Morocco, do you understand me? My son has not forced him to do anything. He has played for Morocco, he has played for France, he has played for Spain… Wherever he wanted to. I love him very much” explained the footballer’s grandmother in an interview for Antena 3‘ episode of ‘Espejo Público’.Barca on a ‘Yamal 2030’ missionThe TV crew also spoke to other Rocafonda residents and some of them are very proud of their former neighbor.”The boy, when he comes, does so with a hood because I have seen him. He comes with a sweatshirt and a hood on. One day I told him: ‘You’re stupid, take off your hood, you’re the joy of the neighbourhood” says a neighbor from Rocafonda. If Morocco tried but failed to persuade Barcelona star to join them, Equatorial Guinea was in a much worst position. Sheila Ebana, Yamal’s mother, took to social media in May 2023 to affirm her son’s heritage, but the closes this country got with Yamal was that he was wearing a pair of shoes adorned with the flags of both Morocco and Equatorial Guinea at the EURO.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 1TuesdayJuventus – PSV 3-1 (2-0)/Yildiz 21, McKennie 27, Gonzales 52 – Saibari 90+3/Young Boys – Aston Villa 0-3 (0-2)/Tielemans 27, Ramsey 38, Onana 85/AC Milan – Liverpool 1-3 (1-2)/Pulisic 3 – Konate 23, van Dijk 41, Szoboszlai 67/Bayern – Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 (3-0)/Kane 19 pen, 58, 63 pen, 78 pen Guerreiro 33, Olise 38, 61, Sane 85, Goretzka 90+2 – Petkovic 49, Ogiwara 50/Real Madrid – Stuttgart 3-1 (0-0)/Mbappe 46, Rudiger 83, Endrick 90+5 – Undav 68/Sporting – Lille 2-0 (1-0)/Gyokeres 38, Debast 65/Wednesday19:45: (1.95) Bologna (3.60) Shakhtar (4.30)19:45: (2.45) Sparta Praha (3.40) Salzburg (2.85)22:00: (1.37) Celtic (5.20) Slovan B. (10.0)22:00: (3.80) Club Brugge (3.50) Dortmund (2.10)22:00: (1.55) Man.City (4.10) Inter (6.00)22:00: (1.42) PSG (4.60) Girona (7.50)Thursday19:45: (4.20) Crvena Zvezda (3.60) Benfica (1.95)19:45: (4.40) Feyenoord (3.70) Leverkusen (1.80)22:00: (4.10) Atalanta (3.50) Arsenal (1.90)22:00: (1.80) Atl.Madrid (3.60) RB Leipzig (4.60)22:00: (1.90) Brest (3.60) Sturm (4.50)22:00: (4.60) Monaco (3.60) Barcelona (1.80)***odds are subject to change***
