In anticipation of Lionel Messi and the teenage football phenomenon Lamine Yamal sharing the same field, an image that stands out in the minds of many football fans is the picture of a young Messi holding baby Yamal in his arms while bathing him during a photo session to raise funds for charity in 2007. Behind all this is photographer Joan Monfort from Spain who unwittingly documented one of the most amazing coincidences in the history of football.
Who is Joan Monfort?
Joan Monfort is a freelance photographer from Barcelona, who works mainly with the Associated Press (AP). Having worked with the most significant events in football, he has shot numerous teams such as FC Barcelona, La Liga, UEFA, among others. However, despite the various pictures taken by Monfort, there is one that stands out – the famous picture of Messi holding baby Yamal.
How the famous photoshoot happened
The famous photos were taken in 2007 during a charity calendar arranged by the Catalan newspaper SPORT, FC Barcelona Foundation and UNICEF in order to help with various causes related to children. The families participated in a raffle in order to have a chance to be photographed with their babies and the Barcelona team. By sheer coincidence, Lamine Yamal’s mother, Sheila Ebana, won the raffle and her family ended up being photographed with a then 20 year old Lionel Messi.The photo shoot took place at Camp Nou where Messi posed with the baby in a small plastic tub. Back then, no one knew that the child in the pictures would turn out to be Barcelona’s next football genius.
Messi was not comfortable holding the baby
Monfort revealed in his account of the shoot that the assignment was no walk in the park either. Messi was just shy and relatively new to the first team then, so he had never before held a baby and looked quite awkward.In order to make the kid laugh and relax Messi, Monfort brought a tiny plastic duck from his daughter’s toys. Even the bath and towel used in the shoot came from Monfort’s place, making the picture, which was destined to become one of the most valued in the history of football, more personal than anyone could have expected.
The pictures were forgotten for years
For almost 17 years, the pictures were kept a secret by the families who owned them. They were made known only in 2024, when Lamine Yamal’s father uploaded them on the Internet, saying, “The beginning of two legends.” With Yamal gaining fame as one of world football’s youngest talents, the pictures went viral almost overnight.
