'A true miracle of destiny' - Messi and Lamine Yamal's incredible first meeting
A resurfaced 2007 photograph shows a young Lionel Messi bathing a baby Lamine Yamal, who has since become a football star. The two are set to face each other in the upcoming World Cup final.
Why it matters
The story highlights a unique intersection of sports history and serendipity involving two generations of football icons.
Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal's history goes back almost two decades./SCREENGRAB
The greatest footballer of all time and the heir to his crown on the right wing at Barcelona will face each other for the first time when Argentina play Spain in Sunday's World Cup final.
Given Lionel Messi is now 39 and Lamine Yamal just 19, it is testament to the former's relentless perseverance and the latter's precocious talent that a match featuring both can take place at all, never mind in the sport's greatest fixture.
But this is far from the first time the two have crossed paths.
That happened in 2007, when a 20-year-old Messi had recently become a regular starter for Barcelona, and Lamine Yamal was only five months old.
The meeting is documented in a series of photographs taken by Joan Monfort.
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