Lamine Yamal is looking forward to this summer’s World Cup, where he will be expected to play a leading role for Spain. The 18-year-old has already led his nation to glory at the European Championship in 2024 and is relishing the chance to do it again.
Given how much he has achieved in his young career, it is easy to forget that Yamal is still a teenager. The La Masia graduate may seem impossibly mature on the field but some areas of his life still need a little work.
In a recent interview with ESPN Deportes, Yamal revealed that he is a “very bad” chef and his attempts to cook for himself ended swiftly. “The truth is, I quit because it wasn’t for me. I was really bad, really bad,” he said. “I’ll make you some nuggets with fries, at most.”
But that doesn’t mean that he is unambitious in his eating. Spain have a group stage game in Guadalajara this summer and Yamal is looking forward to sampling the local cuisine, saying: “I’ll have to try some tacos; I’ve never been to Mexico.”
Cooking aside, Yamal’s incredible maturity has been credited for his meteoric rise. Even while breaking through as a 16-year-old, Yamal managed to appear relaxed and ready on the biggest stages in world soccer. He has been able to tune out the noise and relax when away from the game, something that has allowed him to limit the outside distractions.
“I try to be with my friends and live my life. I try not to focus solely on football, not to be constantly concentrating on the match, or to watch videos of the player I’ll be facing, none of that. I try to enjoy the whole day and, when I’m on the pitch, give my all. But when I leave the pitch, I do the same, disconnecting from football as much as possible.”
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