Barcelona have a new star. If there is a blue-chip prodigy in football right now, it is none other than Lamine Yamal.
The 16-year-old was in charge of leading the Blaugrana to victory against Villarreal on Sunday afternoon. In his second start for the first team, due to Raphinha‘s suspension, Yamal was the best player.
He didn’t score, but he was involved in two of Xavi‘s four goals and is already exciting the fans who have previously seen explosive introductions like this from Lionel Messi and Ansu Fati.
What is the meaning of his celebration?
He has yet to score in the LaLiga EA Sports, but there have been plenty of goals at youth level, and consequently, his celebration has been seen a lot.
Yamal often makes a gesture with his hands that expresses the number “304”. It is not just a random number, but has a special significance for him.
304 is the last digits of the postal number of his neighborhood, Rocafonda, in Mataró (08304). The player was born in Esplugas de Llobregat, but has grown up all his life in the aforementioned district.
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In this way, the footballer remembers where he comes from and vindicates his neighborhood, a working class, humble area with a lot of prejudices around it. A nice gesture for his loved ones, by whom he is very dear, and so as not to forget where he comes from.
His father, another defender of the 304
He inherited this dedication from his father, who always shows himself to be a defender of his district on social networks, mainly on Instagram, where his user name ends in 304. In addition, he usually uploads many posts with this number and when his son makes this demonstration, he is proud of it.
Yamal’s boots
The young man doesn’t just do 304 with his fingers, he also has it engraved on his boots. Lamine Yamal sports the flag of his mother’s country of origin, Equatorial Guinea, and his father’s, Morocco, as well as his initials ‘LY’ and 304.