Latest news with #JuanCarlos
New York Post
21 hours ago
- General
- New York Post
Princess Leonor of Spain arrives in New York after five months at sea
Princess Leonor of Spain has touched down in the Big Apple! The 19-year-old royal arrived aboard a Spanish Navy training ship in New York City on Wednesday, dressed in a crisp white uniform adorned with black insignia. The Crown Princess — who is the heir to the Spanish throne, followed by her younger sister, Sofia — appeared in good spirits alongside fellow cadets as she saluted onlookers aboard the Juan Sebastián de Elcano. 6 Princess Leonor of Spain arrived aboard a Spanish Navy training ship in New York City on Wednesday. Stephen Lovekin/GTRES/Shutterstock Leonor, who had kick-started her military training in 2023, will not be returning to Spain via the ship. Instead, she will fly back and rejoin her peers in Gijón on July 7, EDATV News reports. The princess will join the Spanish Navy's guided missile frigate Blas de Lezo there, where she is set to undertake a key segment of her naval training. Over the past two years, Leonor has been undergoing training at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. Later this year, she will begin Air Force training at the General Air Academy in Santiago de la Ribera to round out her military education. 6 The royal, 19, was dressed in a crisp white uniform adorned with black insignia. GTRES/Shutterstock In March 2023, the Spanish royal house announced that Leonor was set to undergo three years of military training. 'As in all parliamentary monarchies (the heir) has to have a military background and a military career,' Defense Minister Margarita Robles said at the time. Leonor completed her high school degree at UWC Atlantic College in Wales, UK that year. 6 The Crown Princess appeared in good spirits alongside fellow cadets while saluting onlookers. 'In due course, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces will be a woman, and in recent years we have been making a very important effort to incorporate women into the armed forces,' Robles added. The government and the Royal House have agreed that her 'very intense' military training will precede university studies, following in the footsteps of her father in the 1980s. The Spanish monarchy has been struggling to repair its image after a series of scandals over the past decade, mainly linked to the former king Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014 in favor of his son, King Felipe. 6 Over the past two years, Leonor has been undergoing training at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. GTRES/Shutterstock Juan Carlos abdicated amid a tax fraud case involving members of the royal family and following a scandal over his elephant-hunting trip in Africa at a time when Spain was going through a deep recession. The former monarch has been living in Abu Dhabi since August 2020, when he left Spain after several investigations were opened in Spain and Switzerland into alleged fraud. The investigations have subsequently been dropped. Meanwhile, Leonor's parents King Felipe and Queen Letizia have also been rocked by drama after veteran journalist Jaime Peñafiel made a slew of shocking claims about the pair's marriage. 6 The princess and her fellow cadets arrived via the Juan Sebastián de Elcano. Getty Images Peñafiel, who has covered the royals for decades, claimed that Felipe was 'crushed and destroyed' over his wife's alleged infidelity with her ex-brother-in-law Jaime del Burgo. In his book 'Letizia's Silences,' released in May, Peñafiel claimed the king of Spain was 'aware that Letizia was cheating on him in real time' as her bodyguards must report on her whereabouts. The royal author alleges that bodyguards joined the queen on a trip to New York back in 2011, during which she was accompanied by her rumored 'lover' del Burgo. Letizia, 52, reportedly dated del Burgo before meeting King Felipe in 2002. Peñafiel alleged that the pair, who have been married since 2004, had a rocky relationship in the years before the alleged affair began. 6 Queen Letizia and King Felipe with their two daughters in Mallorca on July 31, 2023. AFP via Getty Images Del Burgo — who was married to Letizia's sister from 2012 to 2014 — has since claimed that he is still in touch with the Queen in an interview with Argentinian newspaper Clarín. 'We have shared many years of our lives together,' he told the outlet. 'We have been a family. As I have always said, ours was not a relationship of lovers. The lover would be him, in any case. I mean Felipe.'
Boston Globe
26-05-2025
- Boston Globe
Chelsea youth violence: How a mother's effort to protect her son ended in tragedy
Juan's killing and other recent incidents of youth violence have reopened wounds in Chelsea, a place where young people are becoming victims of violent crime in numbers not seen in more than a decade. Chelsea officials said they are working urgently to protect the city's kids, with weekly interagency meetings where police, public health, and Youth violence isn't new for many families in Chelsea. Members of the international street gang Advertisement But the city is much more than its history of violence. It is a Advertisement The Tobin Bridge loomed over Broadway in Chelsea in 2020. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff It's a community worth protecting, say community leaders who seek to thwart the return of past levels of violence. 'There are kids that are either gang involved or being Efforts to reach young people like Juan Carlos. It has been two months since that chilly evening when he didn't come home; that night, when Lemus learned in the Chelsea police station that her son was dead. On a recent morning, she sat with a caseworker from Dorchester's Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, mustering the strength to talk about her son. She clasped a framed photograph of Juan Carlos to her knees; when she tried to speak, her voice caught in her throat. 'I brought him over here so he wouldn't face the violence in El Salvador,' Lemus said. But violence found them, as it has found other young people in Chelsea in recent years, even as overall violent crime has dropped since the mid-2010s. There were 67 violent crimes reported against people 18 or younger in 2023, a 45 percent increase over the previous year. Those crimes dropped last year but spiked again in the first four months of 2025. This year, more than half of those victims are 15 or younger, including a friend of Juan Carlos who was stabbed in the same incident but survived. Advertisement This is the story of one mother who tried, but couldn't escape that violence. In 2007, Juan Carlos was born in an Iowa hospital — Lemus said she was there on vacation, but fell ill and was unable to fly back before giving birth. Eventually, they returned to El Salvador, where violence had already torn her family apart. Her mother and her brother had been killed when she was four years old, during the country's civil war, and the father of her oldest son was also slain before Juan Carlos was born. Lemus said she never learned who killed them. At that time, San Salvador, the capital city where they lived, was no place to raise a child, she said. So when Juan Carlos was seven, they immigrated to Chelsea, where her sister lived. In 2015, the year they came here, the collapse of a truce between MS-13 and rival gang Barrio 18 led to a massive spike in homicides in El Salvador, giving the country the . Advertisement Many Salvadorans immigrated to the U.S. to escape the gangs. But the effects of the violence often stayed with them. 'As young people come from Central America, they often come from incredibly difficult circumstances,' said Ron Schmidt, a Chelsea Public Schools administrator who runs an outreach program for at-risk students. 'They have been through significant trauma.' Lemus believed she had left all that behind. Juan Carlos attended elementary school in Chelsea before the family moved to Everett in 2017. He was a sharp, well-behaved kid, and Lemus said she tried to protect him. Juan Carlos never saw or experienced violence at home, she said. 'My house was full of values, honor, and respect,' she said. But at school, Juan Carlos was beyond her protection. Other students subjected him to intense bullying once he reached middle school, his mother said. For Lemus, who wanted more than anything to help, it was wrenching to watch. Juan Carlos would bottle up his emotions, then explode crying; he told one therapist he might be better off dead. 'After that, he was never the same,' Lemus said. 'He always had a dark stare.' Lemus, 44, is soft-spoken, obviously shaken. She works at a check cashing business in Chelsea. She had meetings with police officers and the principal of Juan Carlos's middle school, asking them to step in, she said, but the bullying continued. She could feel it slipping — her dream of a safer life for her son, the reason they had traveled so far from her home. Advertisement In 2022, Juan Carlos was walking near the George Keverian School in Everett when he got into a fight with a classmate. According to court filings, the dispute was over a girl. Lemus's classmate told police he told Lemus to stop bothering a friend of his, after which Lemus grabbed him. The classmate ran home and told his father, 45-year-old Mark Luiso, that Juan Carlos had threatened him, according to court records. Luiso, a licensed gun owner who worked as a security guard, armed himself and went to confront Juan Carlos. There was a struggle, and Juan Carlos fatally stabbed Luiso. Police found a large knife at the scene. The Luiso family was shattered, and the Lemus family uprooted. They moved from Everett back to Chelsea, where Juan Carlos initially attended Chelsea High School before switching to an alternative remote learning program. Last year, Middlesex prosecutors charged Juan Carlos with manslaughter as an adult. He was released pending trial, but was ordered to abide by a nightly curfew and stay out of Everett. The case was dismissed after his death. Luiso's family did not respond to requests for comment. Lemus would not discuss the stabbing for this story. It was a painful memory, she said, one she did not wish to revisit. Chelsea officials said they are working hard to prevent youth violence, and spare other families the pain experienced by Lemus and the Luisos. Roca, a Advertisement At-risk youth — suffering from trauma or at the center of urban violence — attended a personal finance class in a program hosted by the nonprofit Roca in Chelsea in 2021. Lane Turner/Globe Staff The city is dedicated to supporting young people, said Chelsea Police Chief Keith Houghton. But gangs are replenishing their numbers by recruiting from younger and younger kids, and low-level violence can escalate if not interrupted, he said. 'It will start with fist fights after school. Eventually, it'll go to bats or any object they have. Then it'll go to knives, and that's where we'll have the stabbings. And eventually they do get firearms,' Houghton said. City Council President Norieliz DeJesus said there is an urgent need to reach the city's middle school-aged children before they become victims or perpetrators of violence. 'We're not tailoring the programs to really engage that generation,' said DeJesus. 'And that's the generation that's running around with guns.' The day before Juan Carlos died, Flor could sense something was wrong. He seemed saddened, upset in ways unexplained by any normal shift in teenage mood. She recalled trying to get him to open up, asking what was wrong. 'Why are you asking me?' he challenged. 'Because I can see it in your face,' she said. 'Something's going on.' Crime scene tape remained tied to a signpost in Chelsea the day after the stabbing that killed Juan Carlos on March 9. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff His response was vague, but troubling. There were people who wanted to inflict harm, he explained; there were others who could not have the tools to defend themselves because it was illegal. Lemus tried to make sense of what he was saying. In an attempt to cheer Juan Carlos up, she took him to Burger King. It had always been his favorite. The next day, Lemus left the house to go to work. When she returned, Juan Carlos wasn't home, so she texted him, asking where he was; he said he was going to a friend's house. She told him to be careful and come home early. The clock passed 7 p.m., then 8. He stopped responding to texts. A growing fear anchored itself into her mind, but she pushed it back, clinging to the hope that he would show up at the door. By 10, she could no longer take the anxiety and ran into the street to look for him. As she searched, her phone rang. It was the police. 'Are you the mother of Juan Carlos?' the officer asked. She said yes, and the officer told her to head to the police station, but did not tell her why. Her mind raced, grasping for explanations that would allow her to see her son again. When she arrived, the police told her the crushing truth: her son was gone. 'To this day, I can't believe this happened. This has been so hard,' Lemus said, her voice breaking. 'The short life he lived — the people bullying him and doing him wrong.' No one has been arrested for his killing. When Lemus is asked to think of her son in better times, she pauses. A memory comes to her — a trip they took to Miami with her sister in 2016. Juan Carlos, nine years old, spending hours building castles in the sand. He had so little pain and so much promise. Dan Glaun can be reached at
RTÉ News
21-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
New Dublin GAA club provides 'support network' to newcomers
A new GAA club in Dublin has provided a vital "support network" to people who have made the city their home. Columbus Gaelic is Ireland's first migrant-led GAA club, bringing together players from 28 countries to help them adapt to life on Irish soil. Since its formation on St Patrick's Day 2024, the club has welcomed 117 newcomers, 72 of whom attend their training sessions regularly at Fairview Park, Dublin. The club was founded by Emilio Piccione from Italy, who saw Gaelic Games as a pathway into Irish culture for people like himself. "Gaelic Games is a safe place for all the migrants who want to integrate with Irish culture," he said. "Our players come from all over the world, and Columbus gives them a place where they feel they belong." At first, Gaelic Games were not even part of the plan. Mr Piccione and club director Marianella Oropeza from Venezuela thought rounders would be a better starting point for Latin American migrants familiar with baseball and softball. "But we realised GAA would connect people better," said Mr Piccione. "We started with football, and a month later we were playing hurling too," he added. "You learn a new sport and the Irish culture, and at the same time you meet people from other countries. It helps you feel less isolated." As the club grew, Ms Oropeza focused on connecting with migrants through language and culture. "We try to get at least one person from each community involved - not just to translate, but to help others feel understood," she said. "It's easier to reach people when they know you understand their background." For the club's Argentine football captain, Luciano Escanosa, Columbus Gaelic is more than a team - it is a support system. "It's an amazing opportunity for migrants," he said. "You learn a new sport and the Irish culture, and at the same time you meet people from other countries. It helps you feel less isolated," he added. Some players discover the club by chance. Juan Carlos from Chile showed up at Fairview Park to play soccer but ended up staying for Gaelic football. "I'm going to play soccer, but I finished with Gaelic football." "It's strange at first - you use your hands - but it's amazing," he said. "It's very different. In football there's no touching with the hands, so it's very strange for me. "It reminds me of basketball, football and tennis." Rafael Schürhaus from Brazil, who joined alongside Juan Carlos, shared a similar reaction. "I thought it was an amazing experience in the field. I never saw this sport before, it's amazing," he said. Starting from scratch Hurling has become one of the most popular sports at Columbus. German coach Chris Bethe trains complete beginners every week. "Most of them have never even seen this sport before," he said. "Some didn't even know the name of the sport. So, we keep it very basic, very beginner-friendly," he added. Columbus Gaelic provides a unique environment where adults can learn the skills of Gaelic Games from scratch - a rarity in traditional Irish clubs. Alex Hernandez from El Salvador highlights why this is so important. "All the Irish people start to play when they are children, and I was looking for someone to teach me from zero," he said. "It's very skilful, but also the culture that is included with the sport. "We want to start with kids properly, because that will be our base for the future." "On the pitch we are rivals, but after the match, we are friends. I really enjoy it, so here I am still playing after one year." Beyond sport, the club has become a support network where players help each other find jobs, housing, and navigate life in Ireland. "It's a community, and that helps with integration," Mr Bethe explained. "Hurling is such an important part of Irish culture and heritage. It's good to know about this sport, to play this sport, it certainly helps with integration into Irish society." "It's good to have some form of community, where they help each other out when it comes to life and living arrangements," he added. Looking ahead, the club plans to affiliate officially with the GAA in 2026 and hopes to expand underage development within two years. "We want to see a proper club with not just adult migrants, but also kids, and to bring some players to the county, of course," said Emilio. "We want to start with kids properly, because that will be our base for the future." "Of course, to get bigger, we need Irish players. We need Irish to get involved in our project to play next season. We need some experience. We need coaches and we need managers and volunteers for our project," he added.
Irish Independent
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Obituary: Princess Marianne, photographer of the jet set who was nicknamed the mother of the paparazzi
©Telegraph Media Group Holdings Ltd Today at 21:30 Princess Marianne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, who has died aged 105, spent decades photographing the jet set from within. Her archive of more than 10,000 images captured her friends in off-duty moments of frivolity, from King Juan Carlos of Spain playing table tennis and a picnicking Yves Saint Laurent to the Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos larking around in a false moustache or Maria Callas snorkelling off Aristotle Onassis's yacht with her dog on her back.
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Lamine Yamal may have the world at his feet but Barcelona's new Lionel Messi - who idolises Neymar - is still rooted to the hometown that molded him into a Ballon d'Or favourite
The morning after the El Clasico where Barcelona have effectively sealed the LaLiga title and in the El Cordobes 'snack bar' in the heart of Rocafonda, the owner Juan Carlos is buzzing with pride. He speaks proudly about the five-year-old boy who would come with his father in the early hours and dribble with a ball inside this tiny space before getting the train from the city of Mataro to Barcelona. Juan Carlos would often lend money to Mounir Nasraoui to help him and his son get to training at La Masia, Barcelona's famed academy. The boy, who would only want a small glass of orange juice, is still very much a boy at 17. Lamine Yamal is arguably the best player to watch in world football too. Framed on the wall inside El Cordobes is a signed shirt gifted by Yamal and Juan Carlos shows Mail Sport the masses of fan mail sent to him from places like South Korea for Lamine's autograph. Whenever Yamal returns to Rocafonda, mostly to visit his grandmother and family, Juan Carlos will receive a call and he will go up the road to try and fulfil those requests. 'We are proud and honoured. When he plays, I get goosebumps,' he says, pointing to his arms. 'When he scores, the sensation is out of this world,' Juan Carlos adds. Less than a minute up the road is the house of Fatima, Yamal's grandmother and the mother of Mounir, who moved from Morocco to Spain in 1990. Yamal often comes here to see her and because he misses her food. Fatima, who helped to raise Yamal after his parents separated, refuses to leave Rocafonda. The neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Barcelona, was created in the 1960s to house immigrants. Over half of the population is born outside of Catalonia. El Pais describes it as 'forgotten, isolated, and stigmatized' and according to the Institute of National Statistics, almost 50 per cent of the residents are at risk of poverty but for Yamal, these parts are richer than anyone could imagine. His Kings League team is called La Capital FC and last week, he was back here to watch the trials. The reason behind the name? Forget Madrid. For Yamal and his friends, this is their capital. His signature '304' celebration nods to the last three digits of the Rocafonda postcode too. On the street opposite the concrete park where Yamal began to play is Bar Familia LY304, a small restaurant run by his uncle Abdul, who used to own the local bakery. Inside lies the shirt Yamal wore when he scored the goal of Euro 2024 against France. 'For my favourite uncle' it says. Over a traditional Moroccan lunch with lentil soup and fresh fish from the nearby ocean, Abdul beams and shows us pictures of him with Yamal, in the middle of dealing with locals who casually pop in for mint tea - a classic Moroccan staple. Such is the fandom that a group of Barcelona fans from France arrive too and Abdul kindly advises them via Google Translate that waiting outside the training ground is the best place to try and see Yamal. By helping to put Real Madrid to the sword Yamal had effectively won LaLiga before making certain against Espanyol On his WhatsApp, a picture comes through of Yamal exchanging shirts with Thierry Henry before someone sends him a clip of Donald Trump praising Yamal, which turns out to be an AI deepfake. It's all part of the fun. Abdul could pack things up but a couple of the locals who speak English insist that like his mother, he is as humble as they come. The locals gather here to watch Barcelona or more precisely Yamal and there's a small replica World Cup inside too. A couple of years ago that may have seemed fanciful but the way Yamal is going, it is very much a possibility. Earlier this year, Yamal was asked what he missed the most from his previous life and he responded by saying being able to walk in a park or go to Granollers, where his mum, Sheila Ebana, who originates from Equatorial Guinea, lives. The reality is that the boy who told GQ that one of the ten items he couldn't live without was his travel card will probably never be seen on public transport again. From establishing himself as a Barcelona starter to winning Euro 2024 and the Golden Boy award, his stock has exponentially risen. This week, Cole Palmer described him as 'the best player in the world' and on Thursday evening, Yamal broke the deadlock with a stunner as Barcelona beat Espanyol to confirm the La Liga title. The 17-year-old's performances across the Champions League semi-final against Inter Milan, where Inter boss Simone Inzaghi described him 'as a child born every 50 years' have led to him becoming the favourite for the Ballon d'Or. After Barcelona's defeat to Inter, Yamal was devastated. Two chances replayed in his mind - one which hit the post in injury time seconds before Inter levelled and one in extra time when Yann Sommer pulled off the save of the competition to deny him. 'Lamine hates losing football games,' said a Barcelona source. 'But it helped that we had another final coming up straight away with Madrid.' He vowed to fans on Instagram that he would bring the Champions League back to Barcelona, including a quote saved on his camera roll that insisted he would 'rise up like a warrior'. As is common in football, an agency helps to manage his social platforms. In Yamal's case, nothing goes up without his say though - he often comes up with ideas when working with The Underdogs (a consultancy established within Jorge Mendes's agency, Gestifute) and on this occasion, it was his idea and execution. Yamal woke up the next morning to numerous kind messages from Inter players. The defender Alessandro Bastoni wrote: 'Special mention to a terrifyingly good kid - you are a monster!' Hansi Flick, the Barcelona manager, gave his players the day off after travelling back from Milan but Yamal, alongside a handful of others, turned up to train. By Sunday, they were celebrating their fourth Clasico win of the season with Yamal instrumental again. When he equalised with a curling strike, no one at Montjuic was surprised. 'He is fearless. He doesn't believe age should ever limit him because he has always played with older people,' says a source close to Yamal. Minutes before the Clasico started, he was doing bottle flips in the dugout. In a nutshell, it summed up the child within but for Flick, Yamal's status is clear. The 'genius' is already a leader. 'Believe me, he's not a kid,' Flick told Mail Sport after the Clasico. 'It was important after the Inter match that no one forgot what happened but at the same time, they needed to look ahead and that's exactly how Lamine handled it. 'He has the self-confidence and belief in what he can do and he's very clever. He brought us back into the match. At 17 years old, it's really high quality. This is what we want from him,' the German added. Aymeric Laporte, his Spanish team-mate, says that since the Euros, Yamal's physique has changed. 'At the start, his body looked young but now he's a lot stronger because of his work. It's more like the strength and athleticism of a 22-year-old,' Laporte tells Mail Sport. Spain team-mate Aymeric Laporte (back row second left) spoke of how Yamal's body has changed since last summer's triumph Though Spanish law limits long-term contracts for minors, a long-term agreement is in place for Yamal to sign until 2030 when he turns 18 in July. His current deal has a £1bn release clause. Agent Jorge Mendes believes the only thing stopping him from winning the Ballon d'Or is his age, saying that people think he has plenty of time to win. Messi and Ronaldo were both in their early twenties when they first won the prestigious award. Here in Barcelona, the events of the last year are further vindication of the fact they believe they have the next Messi, even if those words aren't dared uttered in public. Back in 2023, when Xavi considered bringing Messi back from PSG, a Barcelona board member warned against it and explained they already had the kid that PSG wanted in Yamal. That summer, weeks after his professional debut at 15, Yamal spent most of his time in Rocafonda and Granollers before going on to break record after record across 2023-24 and making his international debut. Winning Euro 2024 changed his life. 'The joyful thing is that he plays like an inner-city child who wants to compete and win, with a free-spirit and by doing crazy things on a football pitch. He doesn't feel pressure and maybe in five years it will be different but I really hope not,' Laporte says. 'One on one, it's hard to stop him. Against Inter, you saw that even if you put three players on him, he will find a way. As his team-mates, you feel the impact because the opposition are scared and sit back. 'If he doesn't win Ballon d'Or because of the Champions League then he will definitely be in the top three but to even be talking about that at 17 is unbelievable. With the Nations League and World Cup to come, there's a chance to do more special things for Spain too' the 30-year-old adds. Such was the naivety of Yamal that days after winning Euro 2024, he was on an EasyJet flight. It's hard to see that happening again. Yamal was the second-most searched athlete in the UK last year and is now a global figure with deals with brands like Beats and Oppo. Yamal is just like any other teenager until he steps on the pitch, when his otherworldly talent shows that he is a star in his own right That Yamal is even in the discussion to win the Ballon d'Or is mind-boggling at his young age He has received lucrative approaches from betting companies ahead of turning 18 - all of which have been rejected as it goes against his beliefs as a Muslim. Nike provided him with boots from the age of 14 but last year, he switched to Adidas after they used Lionel Messi in their pitch and told Yamal he would be their symbol for the next generation. He is already a symbol with over 60 million followers on Instagram and TikTok. In typically Gen Z fashion, he doesn't use X. During the Sant Jordi (St George's Day) festival in Barcelona last month, Yamal wanted to go and enjoy the celebrations in the city but he had to seek refuge in a hotel as crowds mobbed him. He will occasionally venture into the streets and shops with his face covered up. That was fine during winter but less so in Barcelona's sweltering summer. Earlier this year, as part of his desire to have a private life, he moved out of La Masia and into his own apartment nearby. Usually, La Masia only houses players from outside Catalonia but Barca made an exception when they knew they had a special talent on their hands. Even now, it is a case of letting him be. Another first-teamer, Pau Cubarsi, who was born six months before Yamal, still lives at La Masia while he completes his studies though he has his own room rather than sharing. That is not to say Yamal has moved on from his upbringing. He is often seen at Barca Femeni and Barca B games at the Estadi Johan Cruyff - the day before the Clasico, he was there too. Most of his free time is spent with his cousin Mohamed, who is the son of Abdul and Yamal's chauffer, as well as boyhood friend, Suhaib with the trio inseparable, often staying with him in his apartment and regularly going live on social media for Yamal's followers. Last week, a clip went viral when Yamal told a group of women who initially failed to recognise him that his name was Ryan, when they asked him to take a picture of them. Barcelona subsequently referred to him in a social media post as Ryan. One of his role models on the pitch is Raphinha who vacated the right flank to make way for Yamal Within the Barcelona setup, his close friends include Ansu Fati, Alejandro Balde, Gavi and Hector Fort - all of whom played in similar age groups to Yamal. On the pitch, Raphinha is one of his role models, with the Brazilian's shift to playing on the left ultimately a key part in allowing Yamal to make the right-wing spot his own. The teenager is taking driving lessons and also studying English and cooking. His off-field interests are like other teens, with gaming and streaming part of his hobbies. Yamal has often said that if he wasn't a footballer, he would be an influencer and given his love for social media and obsession with having content the way he wants, he regularly stays at shoots for longer than expected. Barcelona try to keep his commitments to a minimum, despite the barrage of interest from rights-holders and sponsors. For the first time this year, Yamal observed Ramadan and fasted when he could, often travelling back to Rocafonda on an evening to do Iftar with his family. Mounir, who has a troubled past and was stabbed last August, has his own place in the city courtesy of Lamine but the family who all travelled to the Copa del Rey final last month in Seville, will be at Sunday's game against Villarreal when Flick's side will be handed the LaLiga trophy. In Abdul's restaurant, his VIP lanyard from that night in Seville hangs proudly behind the counter. At this rate, there will be many more to add too. As evening begins in Rocafonda, the youth head to the park, dreaming to emulate one of their own. This is street football, with no throw-ins or corners and it helps to understand Yamal's unique style. The line he delivered in his first press conference last month comes to mind. The park in Rocafondo helps to understand why Yamal's game has developed in such a unique way The graffiti in the park reads: 'En el barrio de Rocafonda, mas Lamine Yamals y menos Desahucios' (In the Rocafonda neighbourhood, more Lamine Yamals and fewer evictions) In Rocafonda and across Catalonia, they want to be like Lamine Yamal - the boy with the world at his feet. 'Fear while playing the game? I left all my fears in the park of my neighbourhood, back in Mataro, a while ago,' he said. His trademark Trivela pass is the kind of thing seen in video games and not taught at La Masia, where kids are told to play with one or two touches at most. In Barcelona's Gracia district is a mural of Yamal playing the pass with L2 and X (buttons on Playstation controllers). Yamal has said he would like to be like Neymar and his current style is more Neymar rather than Messi. The blonde hair is inspired by Neymar too but within Barcelona, the feeling is that Yamal will evolve into a more central player over time and more pragmatic in a Messi-esque role as a false nine. 'Like Messi, when the game is in a tough place, he demands the ball,' the Barcelona source says. ''He has that quality that give it to me and I will do my thing,' he adds. The graffiti in the park where the kids play reads: 'En el barrio de Rocafonda, mas Lamine Yamals y menos Desahucios' (In the Rocafonda neighbourhood, more Lamine Yamals and fewer evictions).
