Lamine Yamal explains the story behind his iconic photo with Lionel Messi

Lamine Yamal explains the story behind his iconic photo with Lionel Messi The photograph of a young Lamine Yamal being bathed by Lionel Messi as a baby remains one of the most remarkable coincidences in football history. The image, taken by SPORT photographer Joan Monfort, captured the greatest player of all time alongside the boy who would go on to become his heir, and it went viral around the world. Now, Lamine has revealed the fascinating backstory behind why the photograph took so long to surface. How the Messi-Yamal photo came to light Messi and Yamal met at the World Cup. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) In an interview with The Guardian (h/t Diario SPORT ), Yamal explained that he deliberately asked his father to hold off on sharing the image, wary of the inevitable comparisons with Messi. “I told my father not to upload it. He posted it on Facebook once and I told him to delete it. The comparisons were too easy, that was the only thing people were talking about,” he said. The teenager was determined to make his own name before allowing the photo to resurface. “I wanted to be Lamine; I didn’t want to be Messi. I just wanted to get where I could. I asked him to wait. When it’s Lamine, do whatever she wants,” he revealed. His father eventually re-uploaded the image years later, by which point Lamine had already established himself as one of Barcelona’s brightest stars. The two icons came face to face in very different circumstances at the World Cup final, where Lamine’s Spain triumphed over Messi’s Argentina. After the match, Lamine sought out Messi for an emotional embrace, and he revealed exactly what he told the Argentine. “I said thank you for everything you’ve given to football. I don’t do things to look good in the picture; that came out of me inside,” he said. Eyes on the Ballon d’Or The famous Messi – Yamal photo. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images) With the World Cup won, Lamine has now set his sights on lifting his first Ballon d’Or, an award he firmly believes he deserves . “To be completely honest, it is not only this year that I have lived up to a Ballon d’Or, but for longer. Everyone knows; they know I’m different,” he stated. The teenager is confident that his time will come, even if he acknowledges the debate around him. “I think people think, ‘Lamine is 19, he’ll win it sometime, so let’s say another one will win it.’ I just have to win, win and win, and there will come a time when there will be no debate,” he concluded. “There will be people who love me, people who say, ‘How heavy it is!’ and that’s fine.”