It is an unusual photo that has emerged of Lamine Yamal.
It shows the young Spanish star, who is currently playing his way into the hearts of the football world at the European Championships in Germany, being bathed by Lionel Messi as a 6-month-old baby.
The photo was posted on Instagram by Yamal’s father Mounir Nasraoui, with the words: “The beginning of two legends.”
What’s interesting is that the Argentinian football legend was only 20 years old at the time, so he was nowhere near the superstar he would later become. In other words, no one might have guessed at the time how famous both protagonists would become.
The photo was taken for a charity calendar by the Spanish newspaper “Sport”. Fans even see the bathing scene as a kind of “baptism” by the football god.
The shot was taken by Spaniard Joan Montfort. He told “The Athletic”: “It was very difficult to take the photo. You might say I sweated blood. Lionel Messi was very shy back then and suddenly he had to take photos with a strange baby in the bath. But in the end it turned out to be a good picture.”
Yamal grew up in “La Masia”, FC Barcelona’s youth academy, to become Messi’s successor. The Spaniard also describes the Argentinian as his great idol, and he still watches videos of him in his free time.
Yamal celebrates his 17th birthday on July 13, one day before the European Championship final.
