Lamine Yamal just celebrated his 17th birthday as he gets ready to lead Spain against England in the UEFA Euro 2024 final. It’s been a remarkable tournament for the rising star of Barcelona alongside his great friend, Nico Williams.
As a consequence, Lamine’s talent at such a young age has been compared to Lionel Messi. The similarities are there. Same club in Europe and a historic impact to take a national team to the next level.
Of course, the story between the Argentine legend and Lamine Yamal had a tremendous plot twist thanks to an old and currently viral photo. After the massive impact of the image worldwide, Lamine decided to explain if he knew anything about it.
Lamine Yamal reveals if he knew about famous baby photo with Lionel Messi
During an interview with Gerard Romero, Lamine Yamal spoke about the famous image in which he appears as a baby alongside Lionel Messi. It was part of The Barça Foundation 2008 solidarity calendar in collaboration with Diario Sport and Unicef.
“No. I have never been able to speak with him about it. I wish I could have spoken with him, but I never have. The truth is that I wasn’t even aware at that moment that I was with Messi (in the photo). The first person to show me the photo was my father, and we never made it public because, in the end, we didn’t want comparisons between Leo and me.”
Yamal responded whether it currently bothers him that there are so many comparisons with Messi due to his great performance in Euro 2024 with Spain. The 17-year-old is the main candidate to win the award for the Best Player of the tournament.
“No. I don’t think anyone would be bothered by being compared to the best player in history, but in the end, it’s something that detracts from you because you are never going to be like him.”
