LAmin Yamal is one of the most talked about athletes in the world. Despite his age, the Barcelona star has an incredible amount of fame and influence for an 18-year-old. His football captivates the world, so American network CBS NEWS interviewed him to find out about the “Made in 304” phenomenon.
In an interview with 60 Minutes, the Barcelona star reflected on his sporting and personal moments, and even dared to talk about his future. His dream hasn’t changed. It’s all about enjoying the sport you love. The rest is simply a result of being one of the best players in the world.
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your future car
“I want to feel the freedom of being able to drive myself. My car will be something that all my friends want and can enjoy. I’m happy with an Audi, Mercedes or Cupra, not a Lamborghini.”
How do you define your football?
“Fun, that’s the word. At the end of the day, I play for people to have fun. I’m an athlete who entertains, and the goal is not to break all the records in the world, score a million goals, dribble a million dribbles. I want to enjoy myself and I want my kids to be like me. Of course, if I score a lot of goals, that’s even better, but I think soccer goes beyond that.”
love for soccer
“This is the first love of my life and always will be, or at the end of the day, it’s all over. My friends are into football, me, my mom and my dad. It’s been my whole life and will always be with me.”
best goal
“The goal I scored against France in the European Championship and the goal against Brugge on Wednesday was also good.”
respect for rivals
“In those games (preseason) I try to give 100%, but the opponents are not of the same quality as our team. That’s why sometimes I slow down a little and try to touch the ball more. At the end of the day, it’s a human being. He’s playing against me and he’ll be everywhere.”
Eternal comparison with Messi
“I respect him for what he’s been and what he’s been like in football. If we meet on a football field one day, there will be a mutual respect. For me, he’s the best of all time. I don’t want to be Messi, but Messi is I know that I don’t want to be him, I want to go my own way. I’m not going to play like him or wear No. 10 or anything like that.”
world goal
“I have high expectations. It’s been a long time since Spain came in as a strong contender to win the World Cup. I’m very excited to see the country excited and I don’t think this World Cup could come at a better time. I feel important, I feel good and I really want it to happen. I’m going to have a lot of fun. We’re going to win.”
Choosing Spain over Morocco
“It was strange because the possibility of playing against Morocco was in my mind. It was also when Morocco reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, but out of love and respect for Morocco, in a real moment I had no doubts. I always wanted to play in the European Championship and European football is more I think it’s been noticed. I’ve always had a love for Morocco, it’s my country too, and there would have been nothing strange or wrong to play with them, but in the end I did. “I have the handicap of Spain being in the European Championship, but I also feel like I grew up in Spain and Spain is my country.”
A dream come true: European Championship
“At no point during the European Championship did I put myself in a situation where I was like, ‘You’re 16 years old and you’re playing in the European Championship.’ I took it as a natural thing, as if I were playing in a youth team tournament. So I watched Instagram and TikTok on the bus and fell asleep…Then I got on the field, played and had fun.”
your ideal soccer model
“When I was little, I didn’t really dribble, I used to run a lot, but above all I always had a good vision of the game. I used to watch Messi a lot because he was making different passes and goal passes. I also used to see a lot of passes from outside to Modric. Those are things that I really like and they seemed more interesting than dribbling.”
