Spain Courts Barcelona Prodigy Lamine Yamal Amid National Team Decision

As the announcement of the Moroccan and Spanish national team rosters approaches, Lamine Yamal, 16, is under strong media pressure from Spain. Spanish media have claimed that he has chosen to represent the Spanish national team. Yamal is on the provisional list of Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente and could be officially announced as early as September 1, reported the Catalan daily Sport. But the player has not yet decided on his sporting nationality. "I hope the player [Yamal] and his father will resist all the enormous pressures they are facing and that Morocco will not lose this rare talent," commented Samir Bennis, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Morocco World News.

Born in Spain to a Moroccan father and an Equatorial Guinean mother, the talented Yamal is in the sights of both Morocco and Spain. The Moroccan sports authorities expect him to agree to defend the colors of Morocco. The meeting with Fouzi Lekjaâ could lead the young player to choose his sporting nationality. For its part, Spain is also exerting all its weight to snatch Lamine. He has made promising debuts in the youth categories of Barça and the Spanish national team (U15, U16, U17 and U19).

The pressure from the Spanish media on Yamal recalls the case of the dual nationals Abde Ezzalzouli, winger of FC Barcelona, and Munir El Haddadi, striker of UD Las Palmas. The two Moroccan players had been relentlessly urged to commit to the Spanish national team. To maintain the pressure, the Spanish media spread rumors that they would choose Spain rather than Morocco. But the two dual nationals did not succumb to the pressure. They chose to join the den of the Atlas Lions.