"Lamine Yamal, who did win the young player of the year award on Monday, is not simply a footballer, he is a mirror for his generation. For decades, football sold us the idea that greatness came through sacrifice and humility. Lionel Messi spoke of the Ballon d'Or as a "consequence of the team's work". Cristiano Ronaldo turned discipline into theatre, sculpting his body into a monument of effort."
"Lamine Yamal, by contrast, represents something new. He embodies a youth culture that does not hide its ambition. He has previously declared: "I don't dream of one Ballon d'Or, I dream of many. If I don't get them, it will be my fault." That is neither Messi's humility nor Ronaldo's warrior mentality. It is something else: call it self-ownership, where destiny is assumed as a personal responsibility."
"These are young people shaped by crisis - financial collapse, pandemic, climate anxiety - who distrust institutions. For them, success is not obedience to the system but independence from it. Sacrifice is no longer the highest virtue; freedom is. Money is not taboo, but neither is it sacred: it is a tool for autonomy. Fun and visibility are not distractions - they are part of success."
Lamine Yamal became a Ballon d'Or candidate at 18 and won the young player of the year award. He represents a shift in athlete identity toward explicit ambition and self-ownership rather than humility or purely sacrificial discipline. He stands apart from Lionel Messi's team-framed humility and Cristiano Ronaldo's disciplined warrior persona. Yamal's declaration that he dreams of many Ballon d'Ors and will hold himself responsible exemplifies personal responsibility for destiny. His lifestyle, visibility, and pop-star aura align with Gen Z and Alpha values: distrust of institutions, prioritizing freedom, autonomy, fun, and financial independence.
Read at www.bbc.com
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