The pitch where Spanish forward Lamine Yamal honed his skills, in a working-class, multi-ethnic neighborhood on the outskirts of Barcelona, was buzzing with life on Thursday, as locals eagerly and proudly looked forward to the World Cup final against Argentina led by Lionel Messi.

Kepa, an 18-year-old Senegalese youth, said: 'Now that the time has come for the two to face each other, it's incredible,' referring to the admiration famous Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal has for Messi. Messi (39) spent the best years of his career at Barcelona after graduating from the club's youth academy, and a widely circulated photo showing the Argentine with Lamine Yamal as a baby, now 19, has captured the public's imagination ahead of the final on Sunday in New Jersey.

As children from immigrant families played on a pitch behind a mural depicting Lamine Yamal's face in the Rocafonda neighborhood of the coastal city of Mataró, his grandmother Fatima Nasraoui and his relative Ryan, 15, watched them from a nearby bench.

She said: 'I want Spain to win,' adding that she would scream loudly if he scored a goal.

His relative said: 'For me, Lamine means many good things, but above all he is like a brother to me because we grew up together.'

Lamine Yamal, who was born in Spain to a Moroccan father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea, never forgot his roots. Throughout his career, he has taken pride in the Rocafonda neighborhood with his signature '304' hand gesture after scoring goals, referring to the neighborhood's postal code.

During the World Cup, he wore a headband that read 'Rocafonda' and placed the flags of his parents' countries of origin on his shoes. He said football is an example of ethnic and social integration.

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