Lamine Yamal took the footballing world by storm after his breakout season with Barcelona in 2023-24. Last season saw a steady rise in stocks for the La Masia graduate under the tutelage of Xavi.
Yamal repaid his manager’s trust with his performances on the field and made himself one of the most coveted talents in European football.
But little is known about his family, with the only exception of his father, Mounir Nasraoui. Doesn’t ring a bell? Maybe the name ‘Hustle Hard 304’ will. But why this name? What does it even mean?
‘Hustle Hard 304’ is nothing but the Barcelona youngster’s father’s Instagram username. Mounir has quite an active social media presence and has been frequently seen attending Barcelona games.
On his IG handle, daddy Hustle uploads throwback pictures of Lamine Yamal, matchday videos from the stands, close-up shots of his son’s awards. This made Mounir famous amongst the Barcelona fans, who got to have a closer look at the life of their golden boy.
Now why the name ‘Hustle Hard 304’? There’s no definitive answer to that and can only be provided by Yamal Sr. But there’s no harm in guessing.
According to Lamine, his father is a huge fan of rap icons, Eminem and 2-Pac. Most of Mounir’s social media posts feature songs by American rappers and this can be a possible indication of the name selection.
Apart from that, it’s not only a name for a show, he really hustled hard. Coming from a Moroccan family, Mounir settled in Spain with his Equatorial Guinean wife.
Yamal was born in Spain, but his family lineage gave him eligibility to choose from 3 different countries before he eventually decided to don the Spanish colors.
Yamal became the youngest player to play for Spain when he debuted against Georgia on 8 September 2023. With the rise in popularity, came increased media scrutiny.
During Barcelona’s Champions League quarter-final first leg game against Paris Saint Germain, Yamal had a far from impressive outing. Diego Simeone‘s former right-hand man, Mono Burgos, made a comment about the youngster which was far from something to be told on national TV.
“Look at the quality, look at the touches from Lamine Yamal. If he doesn’t do well, he ends up at a traffic light,” said the former Argentine goalkeeper.
The next day, Yamal’s father came to the defense of his son and posted an IG story that read, “Good morning world, I just ask you to respect other people’s children. Thanks.”
This was not the only incident when Yamal’s father spoke up against adversity. ‘Hustle Hard 304’ proved that he was also a hustler on the streets when he got involved in an altercation with Catalonia police.
Last year, before Yamal’s debut, tempers flared between Mounir and Spanish political party Vox members, due to the alleged racial bias of the party.
In a video posted by Morocco World News, ‘Hustle Hard 304’ was seen escorted away by Catalonia police after an argument escalated between the two sides. No charges were pressed, but Yamal’s father made it clear that he isn’t down with anything that disrespects his or his family’s integrity.
With the UEFA Euro 2024 starting on June 14, expect to see ‘Hustle Hard 304’ in Germany to cheer on his son.
