Natural, spontaneous, friendly, uninhibited and also, as he is, a bit playful. For the first time since he got injured against Celta on April 22, Lamine Yamal explained how he experienced the moment he got injured at Spotify Camp Nou and what he felt in the hours afterward. He does not hide the panic that overwhelmed him at that moment at the possibility of missing the World Cup. After taking and scoring the penalty in which he suffered the injury, Lamine experienced terror. “I remember the sequence in which I got injured. I was praying inside that it was nothing, that it was a cramp or something, because I saw myself very close to the World Cup moment. I was afraid it was very serious or that I could relapse and miss the World Cup,” said the Barcelona forward in statements to the Spanish Federation media.
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More than five weeks after his injury, the blaugrana is in the final stretch of his recovery, although it is most likely that he will not play in Spain’s debut against Cape Verde on June 15. But he already sees his comeback a little closer and is like a child. “My mind is as if I hadn’t played anything this season. I am very eager to debut in the World Cup,” he elaborated.
Far from shying away from the label of being the star of one of the favorites in the tournament, Lamine assures that Spain “is going all out” because they have been waiting for this World Cup since they won the Eurocup in 2024. “We have one of the best Spanish teams ever. We have Rodri, who is Ballon d’Or, we have Oyarzabal, who for me is top among the World Cup forwards, we have Pedri, whom I love to watch play. Also, Cucurella since the Eurocup seems like a different player and in goal we have the three best,” praised Lamine.
He is only 18 years old but already sees himself almost as a veteran. “In my mind, it’s as if I had been playing football for ten years but in reality, I have only been playing for three and four years ago I was playing in the local league. It’s something very crazy, very crazy,” he described.
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A craziness that does not affect him with pressure. On the contrary, he likes to deal with it. “I don’t care about the pressure. My demand is very high and that makes my level rise, I like these challenges and I enjoy them.”
As he says, he enjoys the fans. “When you are an idol to a small child you have to stop and take a photo with them. Because when I was little I would have died for a photo with Neymar, who was my idol, I would have even taken a train to Russia to get a photo with him. That’s why I empathize so much with the kids who come up to me,” he states. That said, he would like to be a little less known. “I would pay a lot to be able to go have a quiet drink.”
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