Lamine Yamal performed a celebration with an incredible meaning after he scored for Spain against France.
On Tuesday Spain beat France 2-1 in the Euro 2024 semi-finals, booking their place in a major tournament final for the first time since 2012.
Spain went into the clash as the favourites, but they suffered an early set-back when Randal Kolo Muani headed France ahead after nine minutes.
That seemed to jolt Luis de la Fuente's side into life, and they equalised 12 minutes later when Lamine Yamal curled a sumptuous strike into the top corner off the post.
Advert
Dani Olmo, starting in place of the injured Pedri, put Spain ahead a few minutes later with France unable not muster a reply.
16-year-old sensation Yamal was rightly named player of the match, not just because of his goal but also his relentless running and trickery on the right flank.
What might have gone unnoticed though was the celebration he performed after scoring and the incredible story behind it.
As he does after every goal he scores, Yamal made a hand gestured showing the numbers '304', the post code number of Rocafonda, the working class neighbourhood he grew up in in Catalonia.
He does this as a dig at the Spanish far-right political party Vox, who have previously described Rocafonda as a "multicultural dunghill."
Despite only being 16, Yamal has already been subject to racism.
According to Diario Red, Yamal regularly received abused while playing in minor categories. When he appeared in a video with teammates wearing a Morocco shirt, far-right figures were up in arms.
Earlier this year, Spanish commentator was sacked for a racist slur he made about Yamal live on air.
Yamal's father, Mounir, was recently fined €600 for throwing eggs at a Vox campaign tent in Rocafonda while shouting "fascists" and "racists."
In court he said: "I had my motives. I am a human being. On that day my son was travelling with the Spanish national team to represent this country and these racists came [to our neighbourhood] and stood next to a school where there are people of all kinds of races."
Yamal and his Spain teammates will take on either England or the Netherlands in the final of Euro 2024 on Sunday.
SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We've launched a dedicated transfer news channel to send you the latest deals, rumours and more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp.
Topics: Euro 2024, Spain, France, Lamine Yamal, Racism, UEFA
Alex Brotherton