The beginning of two legends: Messi photos with baby Lamine Yamal go viral

When Joan Monfort photographed Lionel Messi with a baby for a charity calendar almost 17 years ago, he knew the long-haired youngster was destined for a career in football. He couldn't imagine that a young boy would do something like that.The child in the photo that attracted attention is none other than Lamin Yamal, a Spanish young man, and even at just 16 years old, he is already showing potential to be compared to great people.

As the youngest player to play for the Spanish national team, he became the youngest player in the history of the European Championships at this year's tournament in Germany. Last week, a long-forgotten photo from 2007 resurfaced on Yamal's father's Instagram account with the caption: "The beginning of two legends."

Monfort, 56, who works as a freelance photographer for the Associated Press and other media outlets, said the photo shoot took place in the visitors locker room at Barcelona Camp Nou in the fall of 2007, a few months after Ramin Yamal was born. Barcelona players posed with children and their families as part of an annual charity event for local newspaper Diario Sport and UNICEF. Monfort was in charge of the shooting, with Messi paired with the family of Lamin Yamal. His mother, who is from Equatorial Guinea, is pictured next to Messi and the baby in one of the photos.

Messi was 20 at the time and already considered a big talent, but it would take a couple of years before he made his mark as the most outstanding player of his generation for Barcelona and Argentina. Like Messi, Lamine Yamal has gone through Barcelona’s renowned La Masia youth academy. Despite his age, he has been one of Spain’s best players at Euro 2024, where his team play France in the semi-finals on Tuesday. He will turn 17 on Saturday, the day before the final in Berlin.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40532807/lionel-messi-baby-lamine-yamal-barcelona-spain