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The photographer who immortalized the Yamal-Messi duo 17 years ago speaks: His parents preferred Ronaldinho

2024-07-12 19:34:54Sport SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The photographer who immortalized the Yamal-Messi duo 17 years ago is talking

"That photo is a matter of fate, a divine connection." The two stars in the center are Leo Messi and Lamine Yamal, photographed by Joan Monfort, the author of the photo that went around the world. Although the identity of that child was revealed only a few days ago.

It's a Thursday evening, the phone rings: it's a colleague from the Catalan newspaper "Sport". "Is it your picture? It's Lamine Yamal."

"Damn it!", is Joan's surprised reaction. "I'm stunned and happy". 17 years later, his shot has become iconic. In 2007, the Argentine had just started his career, while the Spaniard was newborn.

Both led their respective national teams to the finals of the America's Cup and the European Championship.

Although "Lamine's parents, I remember, preferred Ronaldinho, Leo was still not so determined" about the photo. But maybe it's better this way. "It seems that Messi blessed that newborn baby."

Messi's tension and Yamal's smile

"Leo was a little tense, I don't think he had held other children. He was only 20 years old", remembers Joan Monfort.

On the other hand, little Yamal is calmer: "Thanks to his mother, we managed to make him smile. He was a very good child."

The photo was part of a solidarity calendar created with Unicef ??for children's rights. "It was the one from January, he was talking about childhood."

The children were chosen in Rokafonda, "the neighborhood of Lamine. A very poor area with a high risk of marginalization” (Yamal celebrates with the gesture of 304, the postal code of his neighborhood).

Parents register, the child is chosen by lottery for the photo. And then the shot: "Just before I bathed my daughter Jana, I realized that I had in front of me the photo I wanted to take. That's how I got the basin, towels and a duck, already inherited by several nephews".

"In the last few days I have thought a lot about that situation, trying to reconstruct every moment. I remember one thing... how much I sweated, even though it was winter," says Joan.

In recent days, he has been flooded with comments and messages: "I have not stopped receiving congratulations. There were also many jokes about this and I laughed a lot. The funniest? I heard myself dubbed into Arabic, a language I absolutely do not know."

"Now I dream of another photo with the two of them"

Joan Monfort is now a photojournalist for the Spanish sports newspaper "As", although his passion remains "portraits, they allow me to use creativity. I've done a lot, but none with a baby in a pelvis."

Athlete you would like to immortalize? "I've already done it: Leo Messi, the best on the planet."

And now a dream remains: "To take another photo with the two of them, maybe after winning the America's Cup and the European Championship. Photos are everything. A testament to history that can become iconic." Sometimes it's just a matter of time. How much? 17 years, for example.


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