Barcelona and Spain star Lamine Yamal has insisted he feels no pressure ahead of the first FIFA World Cup of his career.
As reported by İdman.Biz, citing FIFA’s official website, the 18-year-old winger said he remains completely relaxed before the tournament and believes football is the one thing he truly understands.
“I would be nervous if I didn’t know what I was doing. For example, if I had to look for another job. I’ve never worked before, so I’d probably be terrible at it. But football is different because I’ve been doing it my whole life,” Yamal said.
The teenager also revealed that his Barcelona and Spain team-mate Gavi regularly jokes with him about one particular record. Gavi remains the youngest Spanish player ever to score at a World Cup, meaning Yamal can no longer break that mark.
“After the Euros, Gavi jokes that it’s the only record I won’t take from him. So I’ll have to do something better — become the youngest Spanish player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup. If I score a second goal, maybe I’ll nod at Gavi because he only has one. But I’ll be going for all three,” Yamal added.
Despite Spain being considered among the favourites for the tournament, Yamal warned that reputation alone means little on the world stage.
According to the winger, Spain must approach the competition one match at a time, especially with major rivals such as Argentina, France, Portugal and England also among the contenders.
Spain will begin their World Cup campaign on 15 June against Cape Verde in Atlanta before facing Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in the group stage.
Yamal heads into the tournament after another standout season with Barcelona, further strengthening his reputation as one of the brightest young talents in world football.
