"My father had it saved and we never brought it to light" - Lamine Yamal on iconic 2007 photoshoot with Lionel Messi

Lamine Yamal has spoken about the iconic 2007 photoshoot he had with Lionel Messi, when he was only just a baby and the Argentine legend was 20. At the time, a young Messi had begun to take the world by storm, growing into one of the greatest players in the history of football.

Back in 2007, freelance photographer Joan Monfort made preparations to do a photoshoot of the Barca players for a UNICEF charity calendar (via BBC). The organization ran a raffle draw to pick a family to partake in the shoot, and notably, Lamine Yamal's family won the raffle.

Nearly two decades have passed, and no one at the photoshoot at Camp Nou that day could have guessed that the baby with Lionel Messi would become an exciting player. Now, 16-year-old Yamal has broken records at the club, becoming their youngest-ever goalscorer. In an interview with Jijantes, he spoke about the pictures, saying (via CentreGoals):

"At the time of the photo with Messi I was not aware, obviously. My father had it saved and we never brought it to light basically because of the issue of comparisons, which are never good."

The teenager has also taken the world by storm while playing for Spain at EURO 2024. Aside from providing three assists, he became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the competition when he unleashed a curler from distance against France in the semi-final.

---

Lionel Messi ready to continue with Argentina after leading them to Copa America 2024 final

Lionel Messi has made plans to continue playing for Argentina, whether they win or lose the Copa America final against Colombia. This comes after he led La Albiceleste to their second consecutive final, beating Canada in the semi-final.

Speaking after the 2-0 win over the North American side, he revealed that his mind was not yet on retirement with his national team (via AP News):

“As I’ve said before, I intend to continue. I intend to keep living day by day without thinking about what will come in the future or whether I’ll continue or not. It’s something I just live each day. I’m 37 years and only God knows when the end will be.”

Lionel Messi notably scored his 109th international goal in the match against Canada, racking up 186 caps in the process. He is ready to continue with the side, after leading them to win Copa America 2021 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

His teammate and agemate Angel di Maria has decided to retire from international duty after the final, and will be hoping to conclude with the trophy in his hands.