Seventeen years ago, the photographer who captured the “God of Soccer” Lionel Messi (Argentina) bathing “baby” Lamine Yamal (Spain), who was only a few months old, made waves when he recalled the “first meeting of geniuses”.
According to the Associated Press, on July 9, 2024, photographer Joan Monfort captured the moment a 20-year-old Messi bathed baby Yamal in the away team locker room at Barcelona’s Camp Nou in Spain in the fall of 2007. Messi, then playing for FC Barcelona, was participating in an annual charity event organized by a local newspaper and UNICEF. The event brought together Barcelona players and local residents to take photos for a calendar.
Yamal’s family entered the raffle for the photo shoot and won, and were paired with Messi by chance. The young, long-haired Messi washed baby Yamal, who was just a few months old, in a plastic tub next to his mother from Equatorial Guinea. The historic meeting resurfaced last week when Yamal’s father posted a photo of Messi and baby Yamal on social media with the caption, “The beginning of two legends.”
It wasn’t until Montfort saw the photo that he realized the baby in the bathtub was a young Yamal. Montfort, who has been a globe-trotting sports photographer since 1991, said he was thrilled to see the photo 카지노사이트 of a young Messi and a young Yamal. “It’s very exciting to know that I was there in this amazing situation. It feels very good, to be honest,” he says, laughing.
“Messi is very introverted and shy,” says Monfort, who recalls that “when he came out of the locker room, he was confused to find the baby in a plastic tub full of water. At first, he didn’t even know how to hold the baby,” he recalls.
Messi made his debut for Barcelona’s senior team in 2004 and went on to become a ‘superstar’, playing until 2021. He is currently participating in the Copa America 2024 (South American Football Championship 2024), where he will try to win Argentina’s 16th title, and it is possible that the tournament will mark his international retirement.
Hailed as the best talent since Messi, 2007-born Yamal made his La Liga debut in a Barcelona shirt last year, setting records for the youngest debut, start, and goal in the league. At just 16 years old, he competed for Spain at Euro 2024, breaking records for the youngest appearance and youngest offensive point in the tournament’s history.
Yamal will turn 17 on July 13, four days later. The Euro final will take place on the afternoon of July 14, local time, and if Spain defeats France in the quarterfinals on Tuesday morning, Yamal will be able to lift the trophy as a 17th birthday present.