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Here's the story behind the viral photos showing a 20-year-old Lionel Messi blessing a six-month old Lamine Yamal.
In December 2007, photographer Joan Montfort captured a remarkable and now iconic photograph of a 20-year-old Lionel Messi and a six-month-old Lamine Yamal.
Montfort, recounting the experience, described the photo session as challenging due to Messi’s shyness and the difficulty of capturing a candid moment between the young football star and the tiny baby.
The photo was taken for a 2008 charity calendar organised by Barcelona’s club foundation and Catalan newspaper Diario Sport, with proceeds benefiting UNICEF and various NGOs in Catalonia.
Montfort recalled in an interview with The Athletic how the interaction between Messi and baby Yamal gradually warmed up, resulting in a memorable photograph. The picture featured Messi with Yamal in a plastic bath, symbolizing a tender moment between the two.
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“It’s something incredible,” Montfort says. “Back then, nobody could imagine that this baby would be who he is now — and you could not have known that Messi would become who he became, either.”
It was part of a larger initiative where Barcelona squad members were photographed with children, creating cherished memories for the families involved.
Most of these photos have faded into obscurity, except for those cherished by the families, like Yamal's, who have preserved this special memory.
Fast forward to the present, Yamal has emerged as Barcelona’s teenage star, drawing a unique connection between the photograph’s subjects.
The image resurfaced when Yamal's father, Mounir Nasraoui, shared it on social media, bringing the story full circle and highlighting the serendipitous nature of the moment captured years ago.
In 2007, Messi had already made significant strides in his career, having won two La Liga titles and a Champions League.
However, he was still considered an emerging talent in a star-studded Barcelona squad featuring the likes of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, and Thierry Henry.
Montfort reminisced about the challenges of photographing footballers who often rushed through sessions but noted that the mother’s presence was crucial in creating a comfortable atmosphere for the baby, leading to the successful capture of the tender moment.
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Montfort made a point to ensure that each family received a copy of the photos, especially acknowledging the effort Yamal’s mother made to bring him to the Camp Nou from Mataro, a town 40km northeast of Barcelona.
Yamal’s journey continued as he started traveling regularly from Mataro to join Barca’s La Masia academy, eventually making his La Liga debut at 15 in April 2023 and his international debut at 16 in September.
Reflecting on the improbability of such moments, Montfort compared it to other serendipitous football photographs, like a young Pep Guardiola applauding Terry Venables being carried on players' shoulders in 1986.
Montfort, now working for Diario AS, was surprised when a former colleague contacted him after the Messi-Yamal photo went viral, highlighting the photo’s unexpected journey through time.
Montfort expressed joy in seeing the photograph resurface, emphasizing the importance of capturing such moments, especially in today’s football world dominated by money and power.
For him, the photo of Messi and Yamal stands as a testament to the unexpected and heartwarming stories that emerge from the world of sports.
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