Latest news with #UefaEuropeanChampionship
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
FC Barcelona's 17-year-old star Lamine Yamal credits grandmother for his success
Lamine Yamal is still a minor and will sign a full contract with Barcelona when he turns 18 in July. Lamine Yamal is still a minor and will sign a full contract with Barcelona when he turns 18 in July. Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters Lamine Yamal, Barcelona and Spain's 17-year-old football sensation, was about to sign a new contract with his club when he realised his grandmother wasn't there and said they couldn't go ahead if she wasn't in the photo along with his agent, the FC Barcelona president and the rest of his family. Lamine Yamal, who has won hearts and minds not just with his talent on the pitch but for his humility, credits Fatima, his paternal grandmother, with keeping his feet on the ground after his parents separated when he was three years old. Advertisement The contract, which will keep Lamine Yamal at Barcelona until 2031, when he will still be only 24, is in fact a pre-contract as the player is still a minor. He will officially sign when he turns 18 in July, with Fatima in attendance. The contract has a buyout clause of €1bn (£840m) Related: 'A phenomenon': Inzaghi hails Lamine Yamal after his star turn against Inter Fatima left Morocco in 1990 and arrived in Barcelona accompanied by her five children, among them Lamine Yamal's father Mounir Nasraoui. She played a key role in Lamine Yamal's upbringing after his mother, Sheila Ebana, from Equatorial Guinea, and Nasraoui separated. When Lamine Yamal offered to buy Fatima a house she refused, saying she preferred to stay where she was in Rocafonda, the working-class neighbourhood in Mataró, a coastal town north of Barcelona. Advertisement True to his origins, Lamine Yamal celebrates his goals with his hands forming the numbers 304, the Rocafonda postal code. Already rated by many pundits as the best player in the world, Lamine signed for Barcelona in 2014 when he was six years old and was raised in La Masia, the club's famous school-cum-football academy. He made his first-team debut in 2023. Related: Lamine Yamal: the perfect dopamine-hit footballer for our terminally online world | Barney Ronay At the Uefa European Championship last year he became the youngest player to appear in the competition, scoring the goal of the tournament against France in the semi-finals. Advertisement During the competition, which was held in Germany, Spain's use of their young star was constrained by local labour laws that forbid anyone under 18 to work after 8pm. Last year Lamine Yamal became the youngest player to be nominated for the coveted Ballon d'Or, winning the Kopa Trophy for best young player. At 16 he broke the record held by Barcelona teammate Gavi as Spain's youngest goalscorer.
The Independent
13-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Scottish Government acts to tackle Euro 2028 ticket touts
The Scottish Government is looking to crack down on 'unscrupulous ticket touts' before Scotland jointly hosts Euro 2028. Legislation has been introduced at Holyrood to ban the reselling of football tickets for a profit, either online or in person. Scotland will host some of the games at the tournament, which is being hosted by the UK and Ireland. A total of 24 national teams will take part in Euro 2028, with matches to be staged at various locations including Glasgow's Hampden stadium in June and July of that year. The Uefa European Championship (Scotland) Bill, which still has to be passed by MSPs, also sets out plans to restrict street trading and outdoor advertising within designated event zones. Breaching the laws could see fines of up to £20,000 imposed, with unlimited penalties for the most serious offences. Scottish business minister Richard Lochhead said: 'Hosting Euro 2028 is an opportunity for Scotland to shine globally and to welcome thousands of fans to our cities, pubs, restaurants, hotels and communities. 'Our reputation for hosting major sporting and cultural events is known the world over. Hosting one of the most prestigious sporting events is an opportunity to truly cement this legacy.' Mr Lochhead added the legislation 'intends to sustain the integrity of this world-class sporting event and enables us to grab the economic opportunities of the Euros by meeting our obligations as a host nation'. He said: 'That's why we want to tackle unscrupulous ticket touts and uphold our duties to Uefa as a privileged host nation.'
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scottish Government acts to tackle Euro 2028 ticket touts
The Scottish Government is looking to crack down on 'unscrupulous ticket touts' before Scotland jointly hosts Euro 2028. Legislation has been introduced at Holyrood to ban the reselling of football tickets for a profit, either online or in person. Scotland will host some of the games at the tournament, which is being hosted by the UK and Ireland. A total of 24 national teams will take part in Euro 2028, with matches to be staged at various locations including Glasgow's Hampden stadium in June and July of that year. The Uefa European Championship (Scotland) Bill, which still has to be passed by MSPs, also sets out plans to restrict street trading and outdoor advertising within designated event zones. Breaching the laws could see fines of up to £20,000 imposed, with unlimited penalties for the most serious offences. Scottish business minister Richard Lochhead said: 'Hosting Euro 2028 is an opportunity for Scotland to shine globally and to welcome thousands of fans to our cities, pubs, restaurants, hotels and communities. 'Our reputation for hosting major sporting and cultural events is known the world over. Hosting one of the most prestigious sporting events is an opportunity to truly cement this legacy.' Mr Lochhead added the legislation 'intends to sustain the integrity of this world-class sporting event and enables us to grab the economic opportunities of the Euros by meeting our obligations as a host nation'. He said: 'That's why we want to tackle unscrupulous ticket touts and uphold our duties to Uefa as a privileged host nation.'
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Wales U21s will have 'underdog mentality' says Jones
Matty Jones says Wales Under-21s need to "overachieve" once again as they attempt to go one step further in their bid to reach a first major finals. Wales missed out on both automatic qualification and the play-offs for this summer's Uefa European Championship finals after an agonising defeat against the Czech Republic in their final fixture. But following the draw for the 2027 qualifying tournament, the former Wales midfielder is ready to go again despite a challenging group. Wales will face Denmark, Belgium, Austria, and Belarus in a campaign that kicks off in March. "I think we have to manage our own expectations, we have to manage the emotion around that as well," said Jones, who has been Wales' U21 boss since September 2022. "When we're driving an underdog mentality, it doesn't mean we just go gun-ho and show attitude and application." "The expectation is always to overachieve, and that's what we did in the last campaign, and that's what I'll be setting out to achieve this time round." Jones, who won 13 caps for the senior side before his career was ended by injury, saw several key players unavailable during the last campaign after being drafted into the full squad. The 44-year-old says the emotional challenge of developing players and then having to pass them on to senior teams is one of the more difficult aspects of youth football. "The most difficult thing is you invest two years of your time and drive values and culture, creating an unbelievable environment driven by players and staff, and then to be able to hand them over," Jones said. "We must understand it, and the understanding that I've had for many years now working in this field is that journey will come to an end for you. "That relationship with that player – you have to let them go." Jones expects further promising talent to move on in the near future. Youngsters such as Cardiff City's Cian Ashford and Leeds United's Charlie Crew - currently on loan at Doncaster Rovers - are among those to have already caught Wales manager's Craig Bellamy's eye. "They always are [in contention], of course they are. I wouldn't put anything past Craig [Bellamy] either with the conversations we have," said Jones. "He's actually speaking about players a lot younger than that as well. It's exciting to hear Bellers speak the way he speaks, and rightly so. Jones says he will be bolstered this campaign by an Football Association of Wales attempt to grow Wales' player pool. As a result of the increased focus on dual nationality, Wales now has a wider selection of talent to choose from, both from players born in Wales and those who have lived or been schooled in the country. "The pool of players we can select from is getting wider and wider, so why wouldn't you be excited?" Jones said. "We are discussing players now who are no longer living in Wales, born in Wales, or schooled in Wales, so that dual eligibility piece we've worked really hard on over the last couple of years is coming to fruition. "It just generates more competition, so it makes it healthier for us when we come into camp. A lot of our squad selection is now based upon performance as opposed to reputation or bias."
BBC News
07-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Wales U21s will have 'underdog mentality' says Jones
Matty Jones says Wales Under-21s need to "overachieve" once again as they attempt to go one step further in their bid to reach a first major missed out on both automatic qualification and the play-offs for this summer's Uefa European Championship finals after an agonising defeat against the Czech Republic in their final following the draw for the 2027 qualifying tournament, the former Wales midfielder is ready to go again despite a challenging will face Denmark, Belgium, Austria, and Belarus in a campaign that kicks off in March. "I think we have to manage our own expectations, we have to manage the emotion around that as well," said Jones, who has been Wales' U21 boss since September 2022."When we're driving an underdog mentality, it doesn't mean we just go gun-ho and show attitude and application.""The expectation is always to overachieve, and that's what we did in the last campaign, and that's what I'll be setting out to achieve this time round."Jones, who won 13 caps for the senior side before his career was ended by injury, saw several key players unavailable during the last campaign after being drafted into the full 44-year-old says the emotional challenge of developing players and then having to pass them on to senior teams is one of the more difficult aspects of youth football. "The most difficult thing is you invest two years of your time and drive values and culture, creating an unbelievable environment driven by players and staff, and then to be able to hand them over," Jones said."We must understand it, and the understanding that I've had for many years now working in this field is that journey will come to an end for you."That relationship with that player – you have to let them go."Jones expects further promising talent to move on in the near such as Cardiff City's Cian Ashford and Leeds United's Charlie Crew - currently on loan at Doncaster Rovers - are among those to have already caught Wales manager's Craig Bellamy's eye. "They always are [in contention], of course they are. I wouldn't put anything past Craig [Bellamy] either with the conversations we have," said Jones."He's actually speaking about players a lot younger than that as well. It's exciting to hear Bellers speak the way he speaks, and rightly says he will be bolstered this campaign by an Football Association of Wales attempt to grow Wales' player a result of the increased focus on dual nationality, Wales now has a wider selection of talent to choose from, both from players born in Wales and those who have lived or been schooled in the country."The pool of players we can select from is getting wider and wider, so why wouldn't you be excited?" Jones said."We are discussing players now who are no longer living in Wales, born in Wales, or schooled in Wales, so that dual eligibility piece we've worked really hard on over the last couple of years is coming to fruition."It just generates more competition, so it makes it healthier for us when we come into camp. A lot of our squad selection is now based upon performance as opposed to reputation or bias."
