In the year 2007, an emerging Messi and Lamine Yamal, then merely 20 years old, posed for photographs in the hallowed halls of Camp Nou in Barcelona, clutching a baby for a charity calendar. Already carving out his legacy, Messi was on a trajectory to be hailed as possibly the greatest footballer in history.
This baby, Lamine Yamal, at the tender age of 16, is currently the sensation of the European Championships. His goal against France in the semi-finals on Tuesday is destined to be a topic of conversation for generations.
At just 16 years and 362 days, Yamal’s strike rendered him the youngest goal-scorer in the history of the tournament. A long-forgotten image of Messi and Yamal reemerged after Yamal’s father posted it on Instagram last week with the caption: “The beginning of two legends.”
The photographs were captured by Joan Monfort, a freelance photographer affiliated with the Associated Press. The session materialized after Unicef conducted a raffle in the town of Mataró, where Lamine’s family resided, Monfort disclosed.
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“They entered the raffle for an opportunity to be photographed at Camp Nou with a Barça player, and they triumphed,” Mr. Monfort recounted to the Messi and Lamine Yamal Associated Press. The assignment presented its own set of challenges, Monfort revealed.
“Messi is quite reserved, rather shy,” he explained. “He emerged from one locker room only to find himself in another, facing a plastic tub filled with water and a baby within it. It was a perplexing scenario. He initially struggled with how to hold the baby.”
Paralleling Messi’s journey, Yamal ascended to play for Barcelona, becoming the club’s youngest-ever starter and goal-scorer, in addition to being the youngest Messi and Lamine Yamal scorer in the Spanish league. Mr. Monfort remarked that it was only when the photo went viral online last week that he realized the infant was Yamal.
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