Хөлбөмбөгийн домог Лионель Месси болон залуу од Ламин Ямал нарын 17 жилийн тэртээх ховор гэрэл зураг цахим орчинд дахин эрчээ авчээ.
2007 оны арванхоёрдугаар сард Барселона-гийн буяны үйл ажиллагааны хүрээнд хийгдсэн гэрэл зургийн үеэр тухайн үед 20 настай байсан Месси таван сартай нярай Ламин Ямалыг усанд оруулж буй агшныг гэрэл зурагчин Жоан Монфорт хальснаа буулгажээ. Тухайн үед ирээдүйн агуу тамирчид болохыг нь хэн ч таашгүй байсан энэ үйл явдал өдгөө хөлбөмбөгийн ертөнцийн хамгийн гайхалтай тохиолдлуудын нэгээр нэрлэгдэж байна. Гэрэл зурагчин Монфортын хэлснээр, тухайн үед ичимхий залуу тоглогч болон нялх хүүхдийн хооронд харилцаа үүсгэх нь хүндрэлтэй байсан ч ээжийнх нь тусламжтайгаар нандин агшныг бүтээж чадсан аж.
Ламин Ямал өдгөө Барселона-гийн төдийгүй Испанийн шигшээ багийн гол найдвар болон гялалзаж байгаа нь хөлбөмбөгийн түүхэн дэх ховор тохиолдол юм. Тэрээр Мессигийн өмсөж байсан 10 дугаартай өмсгөлийг өвлөн авч, түүний залгамж халаа хэмээн үнэлэгдэх болсон нь энэхүү гэрэл зургийн утга учрыг улам бүр тодотгож байна.
Энэхүү түүхэн зураг нь Пеп Гвардиолагийн хүүхэд байхдаа Терри Венейблсийг мөрөн дээрээ өргөж буй алдарт зурагтай ижилхэн хөлбөмбөгийн түүхийн салшгүй нэгэн хэсэг болж үлджээ. Монфорт энэ бүхэн мөнгө, эрх мэдлээс ангид, хөлбөмбөгийн жинхэнэ үнэ цэнийг харуулсан гайхалтай хувь тавилан хэмээн онцолсон байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
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A version of this article was first published in July 2024.
“It was a difficult shot,” photographer Joan Monfort told The Athletic. “We can say I sweated some blood to take it.
“Lionel Messi is still shy now. He was much more shy when he was starting out, and he finds himself there with a tiny baby in a plastic bath full of water. At the start, there was not much interaction. It was difficult for all of them. But, bit by bit, it started to happen and in the end, it’s a pretty good photo.”
In December 2007, Monfort took a photo of a 20-year-old Messi, who had begun his legendary Barcelona career just over three years earlier, and Lamine Yamal — who was five months old.
It was published in a 2008 charity calendar organised by Barcelona’s club foundation and newspaper Diario Sport, with the money raised going to UNICEF and other charities around Catalonia.
As part of a yearly initiative back then, members of the Barcelona squad were photographed alongside children. Hundreds of families collaborated and most of the photos have now been forgotten, beyond the treasured private memories of those who took part.
It just so happens that Yamal, Barca’s star of the future, was paired with Messi, who would go on to win the Ballon d’Or eight times.
The bathing photo, as well as a number of other images from the shoot, including one where Messi is seen cradling a baby Yamal in a towel, and another where Yamal’s mother Sheila Ebana helps wash her son, returned to public view during the European Championship of 2024, when Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, shared it on social media.
“It’s something incredible,” Monfort told The Athletic in a July 2024 interview. “Back then, nobody could imagine that this baby would be who he is now — and you could not have known that Messi would become who he became, either.
“We are talking about 2007. Messi was only beginning at Barca then. Destiny plays an important role in these things.”
In December 2007, Messi had already won two La Liga titles and a Champions League, but he was still just an emerging talent in a squad full of established stars including Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Thierry Henry.
“They gave you a list of 12 players, one for each month,” Monfort said. “Often footballers come in and say ‘let’s go, let’s do it. I’m in a rush; what do you want to do?’. But you have to take your time.
“It can be a bit cold, especially in a photo where you need interaction between two people who do not know each other. Then, when one is a baby and the other is 20, it can get difficult. But it turned out pretty well.
“The mother helped a lot. Her presence was super necessary, so the baby did not feel it was too strange. You look for a tender image — something sweet and nice.”
Yamal and Spain face Portugal in the World Cup last 16 on Monday (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Monfort always tried to make sure each family got a copy of the photos he took to keep themselves, especially in this case given the effort Yamal’s mother made to take him to the Camp Nou from the town of Mataro, north-east of Barcelona.
“I’d always want to give them a photo, it makes them really happy,” Monfort said. “The player might not be too worried, but the parents of the kids would be very excited. They lived 40km away. Not everyone would do that with a young baby. They would have to make the trip, then wait for the player to arrive, for everything to be set up.”
It was around six and a half years later when Yamal started to travel regularly from Mataro for Barcelona training, after joining the club’s La Masia youth academy in 2014.
His progress has been phenomenal. Yamal made his La Liga debut with Barca aged 15 in April 2023. An international debut with Spain came aged 16 in the September of that year. Yamal was a key part of the Spain team that won Euro 2024. He is now their biggest World Cup star.
At club level meanwhile, Yamal wears Messi’s iconic old No 10 shirt and has emerged as the closest possible successor to the Argentina legend, who achieved so much during his 21 years in Catalonia, having himself joined as a 13-year-old in September 2000.
“It’s a one-in-a-million chance that this could happen,” Monfort said. “It’s such good fortune.
Lionel Messi and Argentina face Egypt in their World Cup last 16 match on Tuesday (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
“These days it happens a bit more, as people have their phones and share photos, but it is like the photo of Guardiola as a kid applauding (former Barcelona and England manager) Terry Venables being carried on players’ shoulders. When Venables died (in November 2023), Pep posted the image.”
This photo of a 15-year-old Guardiola, himself then a La Masia student and Barca ball boy, later a Barca player and coach, is from April 1986. Englishman Venables was then midway through his three-year spell as manager and was hoisted aloft by players Paco Clos and Migueli after the team came from 3-0 down in a European Cup semi-final against IFK Gothenburg to progress on penalties.
Monfort is still taking photos. These days he is working for Madrid-based sports newspaper Diario AS. He was surprised when a former colleague from Diario Sport contacted him after the photo of Messi and Yamal went viral during Euro 2024.
“He asked me if it was my photo,” Monfort said. “I said yes. He sent me the photo and I asked him who the baby was. He started to laugh and said ‘Lamine, Lamine’.
“He told me the father had put it on social media. In Sport, they could hardly believe it. They had just realised, too. It’s been really surprising, all this. We take so many photos, so many images. Some of them will remain.
“For Lamine to grow up to be a footballer, and to have this photo, I’m just really happy it happened. It’s especially nice in today’s football, when so much is to do with money and power.”
