Meet Hamza Yasir: Aspiring to become next Lionel Messi

Like any other kid in Pakistan, 11 years old Hamza Yasir also picked up a bat and a ball and started playing cricket.

However, his elder brother, Nadeem Kaka, was a fan of football and it attracted his younger brother to the sport as well.

In a span of a couple of years, from dreaming to become Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar or Javed Miandad, he started idolising Argentina’s star Lionel Messi and wants to play for his former club Barcelona.

“Not only do I like Messi, but my dream is to one day play for Barcelona football club like him,” he says.

The gem, in the shape of young Yasir, was discovered during trials conducted in major cities of the country by the Global Soccer Ventures’ (GSV) to select 20 talented footballers over the age of 16 that will embark on the Road to Europe to polish their skills and play at an international stage.

The trials were conducted in ten different cities, including Islamabad, Muzaffarabad, Peshawar, Sialkot, Multan, Sukkur, Quetta, Faisalabad, Lahore and Karachi.

The raw potential of the young aspirants was evaluated under the direct supervision of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) accredited trainers, including Karel Fraeye and Dennis Ricardo from Belgium, and Marc Antonio from the United Kingdom, as part of the GSV NexGen soccer trials.

Meanwhile, the final 20 were nominated by Brain Kerr, the former senior international manager for the Republic of Ireland and Faroe Islands.

Yasir is under-aged, he was not even supposed to appear in the trials and had no business there because he was still a kid.

However, he was asked by his brother, who is also his coach to just join him for the trials conducted in Lahore. When they reached there, Kaka asked the coaches to evaluate this young special talent.

“The foreign coaches asked me to play and they selected me after seeing my skills, after which I was called for trials in Karachi,” he said.

After another round of evaluation, he was selected as an additional member of the 20-member squad, who will be playing in Ireland.

Yasir’s elder brother has high regard for his younger sibling and called him a God-gifted talent.

“He has God gifted talent,” he stated. “He also learns extremely quickly whatever I teach him.”

Kaka further shared that Yasir was well on course to become a footballer as he was playing at the Under 16 level; however, the whole Pakistan Football Federation fiasco has hindered his future plans.

“I not only want him [Yasir] to play football at the international level and represent Pakistan at the big stage but also to play for one of the leading clubs of the world,” exclaimed Kaka.

Yasir, who is merely a seven-grader yet, is an immensely hard-working and dedicated budding footballer.

The 11-year-old trains for five to six hours a day despite attending school regularly.

“I do various trainings during the day after school and I practice till about 10 o’clock at night,” he shared. “My brother is my coach and he is very strict when it comes to training.”

Yasir has played in different positions. However, it looks like he has settled as a midfielder, given his set of skills.

“I have played in different positions but now I play as a midfielder because not only do I run fast but I also have the ability to dribble,” he mentioned.

The young footballer is far superior in terms of skills than any of his age-mates. Therefore, he hardly even plays with the children of his age group.

“I’ve always played with older boys because boys as my age-mates cannot compete with me. So, I play with older boys and give them tough time too,” he claimed.

According to GSV Chief Executive Officer Zabe Khan, the foreign coaches were completely blown away by the talent of the football prodigy.

“Coaches told me that we haven’t seen such tremendous talent at this age anywhere in Pakistan or even in Europe,” he claimed. “Then we decided to work on this kid and included him in the programme separately,” Zabe told.

Khan shared that the only hurdle they are facing is that due to FIFA’s restrictions, he is too young to travel alone to Europe and he can only do that only with a guardian.

“When Messi came to Barcelona, he came with his father. So, we are weighing different options regarding how we can send him for training in Europe,” he added.

Meanwhile, Brian Kerr, Honourary Director of Football St Patricks Athletic and the longest-serving St Patrick’s Athletic manager, former Ireland manager at U16, 18, 20 and senior level, felt lucky to have unearthed such a precious talent.

“We feel lucky for discovering such a young football prodigy on this soil and can’t wait for him to showcase his skills in the near future,” he stated.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs, Usman Dar assured the providence of all the facilities under ‘Kamyab Jawan Program’ to the talented youth like Hamza Yasir.

“There are many talented players like him in Pakistan whom we need to give opportunities to express their talent,” he maintained. “He has a great future ahead.”

He further claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government, under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s supervision, is fully motivated to uplift sports in Pakistan.