Every reporter: Xie Tao Every editor: Tang Yuan
On July 10th, Beijing time, Spanish "football player" Lamin Yamal, who is 16 years and 362 days old, scored a goal with a perfect "Full Moon Scimitar" The goal broke the record of the "youngest goal scorer" in the history of the European Cup.
In this focus game that attracted worldwide attention, the young Yamal, with his almost perfect personal performance, beat the French captain Mbappe, who is worth 180 million euros, and was selected for this European Cup. Man of the match in the semi-finals.
Before the start of this European Cup, Yamal had already performed well in La Liga's top giants Barcelona Football Club.
Fans all over the world ridiculed this new "underage" football star, "Will this player have to go home and do homework after playing the game?" "Rational analysis, is Spain's use of Yamal considered exploitation? Child labor?"
Manu Carreño, a well-known Spanish radio host, wrote in a column, "It is difficult for you to imagine that he is a 16-year-old boy. He has a maturity that does not match his actual age and can analyze calmly. Everything about football and non-football. As long as there are no injuries or other accidents, we can imagine that Yamal will participate in the 6 European Cups like Ronaldo. His future is limitless. "What exactly does Yamal, who was born out of
. What an eye-catching resume? Why can Barcelona's La Masia football youth training system continue to cultivate so many "Messi's"?
Yamal Picture source: Weibo @uefa European Cup
The ghetto genius who made history
In fact, before this, Lamin Yamal had created countless highlight moments of his own.
As early as 2019, Spain's "Marca" reported on this 12-year-old boy, praising him as "after Messi" and "the strongest person in La Masia".
Now, this young man who has only made his debut for more than a year has already won the La Liga championship, the Champions League championship and the record of being the youngest member of the national team to play and score, and his worth has soared to 90 million euros.
Yamal Picture source: Weibo @uefa European Cup
In the first round of this year's European Cup group stage, when Spain faced Croatia, Yamal started and shined on the field. In this game, Yamal started the game and assisted his teammates to score. With 3 dribbles, 3 key passes, and 2 created points.
In this game, Yamal not only became the youngest player in the European Cup's 60-year history, but also the youngest player to provide assists in the history of the European Cup.
Previously, the record holder for the youngest player to appear was Polish player Kozłowski. He made his debut against Spain in the last European Cup when he was only 17 years and 246 days old.
His father is from Morocco and his mother is from Equatorial Guinea. Yamal comes from an immigrant family and has lived in a relatively poor immigrant neighborhood in Barcelona since he was a child. At the age of six, Yamal was spotted by Barcelona's youth academy.
Yamal was once held in the arms of Messi. Image source: Player social media
At that time, there was not much technical stuff in his scouting report. He only wrote: "This kid is very special and must be focused on."
After several trials and games, Yamal quickly conquered the echelon coaches with his strong learning ability and super high goal rate. Even when facing opponents several years older than him, he rarely met them. to trouble.
In order to protect this rare talent, Barcelona "franchised" Yamal to live in the dormitory of Barcelona's youth training camp - La Masia.
Subsequently, we witnessed the rise of a new football star:
In October 2022, 15-year-old Yamal was selected for the Spanish U19 national team;
On April 30, 2023, Yamal was selected in the 32nd round of La Liga in the 2022-23 season. Ushering in the debut of the Barcelona first team;
On September 9, 2023, in the fifth round of the European Cup qualifying group stage, Yamal, who had just turned 16, set the youngest appearance record and the youngest scoring record in the history of the Spanish national team. . At the same time, he also became the youngest goalscoring international player for all European national teams in the past century.
Yamal and his mother and younger brother. Picture source: Weibo @uefa European Cup
The world’s top youth training system
Yamal’s sudden emergence is undoubtedly one of the epitome of the success of Barcelona Club’s youth training system.
As the world's top football youth training "benchmark", Barcelona's youth training system with La Masia Youth Training Camp as the core is an important cornerstone of the long-term success of Barcelona Football Club. Since
was officially put into use in 1979, it has cultivated many world-class stars including Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets, and has also provided a large number of talents to the global sports industry.
Barcelona provides top coaches here. Top coaches such as Josep Guardiola, Luis Enrique, and Tito Vilanova who led Barcelona to win the La Liga championship have all worked at La Masia.
The Spanish team celebrates reaching the European Cup finals. Photo source: Weibo @uefa European Cup
Barcelona youth training not only focuses on the cultivation of football skills, but also emphasizes the improvement of players' comprehensive quality, including cultural education, humanistic training, etc.
In addition to football skills, the development of players' comprehensive quality is often ignored by many people. Nunez, the father of La Masia, once said, "The purpose of youth training is to provide cultural education and humanistic training for children who leave their families in order to become outstanding football players."
The reporter learned that Barcelona's youth training system is divided according to age. Multiple echelons, including u8, u9, u10, u12, u14, u16, u19 and Barcelona B team, etc. Each age group has corresponding training plans and competition arrangements.
At the same time, pay attention to scientific training and avoid over-training. The training time should not exceed one and a half hours every day, and the training content and intensity should be adjusted according to the age and development stage of the players.
In the younger age groups, we focus more on improving players’ interest and technical foundation through games and experiential training; in the upper age groups, we start targeted physical training and technical improvement.
Barcelona became the first club in history to start two players under the age of 18 in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. Photo source: Weibo @Barcelona Football Club
La Masia implements small class teaching, and players need to "hardly" complete full-time middle school courses in addition to training. Covering major subjects such as science, literature, foreign languages, and mathematics, as well as minor courses such as vocal music, painting, and performance. This ensures that players receive a well-rounded education outside of football.
Not long ago, the Spanish Football Association released a video about Yamal's daily life in the European Cup. In the footage, Yamal, after training during the day, went back to his room to do homework at night, and then played games with his teammates to relax.
Therefore, "playing European Cup while doing homework" is not a joke, but a reality.
This is a rigid rule of La Masia. Players must complete the studies corresponding to their age group. Even if they are extremely talented, they cannot miss the cultural courses. The same was true for Messi and Iniesta before.
Yamal had to complete homework every day while participating in the European Cup. Picture source: Video screenshot
In fact, many times what can give football power comes from outside football. It is not just about skills, tactics and talent, it is more about It is a player's experience and understanding of the world, and it is the player's love for this sport from the bottom of his heart.
As Spanish football legend Fernando Morientes said, "If a child is instilled with the concept of 'must become a professional player' from the beginning, it will be difficult for children to persevere. Only love from the heart can support a career. The key to long-term career development”
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