In 2007, a 20-year-old Lionel Messi visited Barcelona's Camp Nou dressing room for a charity calendar session, where he posed for photos with a child eventually identified as baby Lamine Yamal.
It never occurred to the anyone that the baby would go on to become the youngest starter and goalscorer in Barcelona's history, as well as the youngest player in the Spanish league, all while making headlines in the world of international football less than 17 years later.
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.
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