Barcelona Prodigy Lamine Yamal Commits to Spain, Dashes Morocco’s Hopes

The Moroccan jewel of Barça shines in the Spanish national team. In three matches, the young player has scored two goals. On Sunday against Georgia in Villareal, Lamine Yamal played his fourth match with Spain, becoming a Spanish international, according to FIFA rules. Thus, the young striker born in Esplugues de Llobregat in Spain to a Moroccan father and an Equatorial Guinean mother, will no longer be able to change his sporting nationality, reports Fichajes.

Yamal had already played in the Spanish youth categories and has chosen to continue his international career with Spain, turning his back on Morocco which failed to convince him to join the Atlas Lions. "It’s a personal decision. We can’t force anyone to play for Morocco. We know his potential and his future, but he was born in Spain and I wouldn’t want to have to make that decision at his age," Walid Regragui, the Moroccan coach, had said about the player.