In humble Spanish suburb, wonderkid Lamine Yamal embodies hope

MATARO, Spain : 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