“The beginning of two legends”, the background on the image of the Yamal Mess as a baby that became viral

When the photographer Joan Montfort took a photo of Lionel Mess with a baby about 17 years ago at a charity meeting, he knew that Argentinians would become big in football, but he would never have thought that the baby would be amazing either.

The child in the picture, now a viral, is none other than Yamal, the Spanish talent, which at the age of 16.

In addition to becoming the youngest player to debut in Europeans, Yamal broke the world record of the newest goal scorer at the European Champions, implementing a Euro-gool in the semifinals against France.

The long-forgotten photograph of 2007 resurfaced after Yamal's father posted it on the Instagram last week with the text: “The beginning of two legends”.

Monfort, 56, who works as an independent photographer, said the photopositon was developed in the visitors' dressing room in “Camp Nou” of Barcelona in the fall of 2007, when Lamine Yamal was only a few months old.

Barcelona players posted with their children and families for a calendar as part of an annual charity movement by the local Diario Sport and Unicef newspaper. Monfort was at the top of the photos, and it happened that Messie joined Lamine Yamal's family. His mother, who is from Equatorial Guinea, is near Mess and the baby in one of the photos.

“We made the calendar with the help of Unicef. So Unicef made a lottery in Roca Fonda County in Mataro, where Lamine's family lived. They were counted in lots to take their picture in Camp Nou with a Batcha player. And they got lots.”.

It was not an easy task, he recalls, primarily because Messy was not sure how to interact with the baby, who was in a plastic filming tub.

“Messy is a pretty introvert guy, he's shy. He was leaving the dressing room and suddenly finds himself in another dressing room with a plastic tub filled with water and a baby in it. It was complicated. He didn't even know how to keep it first.”, he shows.

Monfort had no idea it was Lamine Yamal in those pictures of 2007 until a friend sent them messages as they started appearing on the internet.

He has had a long career as a sports photographer since 1991, following Barcelona worldwide, but said he has never experienced this level of emotion about none of his photos.

“It is very exciting to associate with something that has caused such a feeling. To tell the truth, it's a beautiful feeling”.