By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): In December 2007, a 20-year-old Lionel Messi took part in what seemed like a routine charity assignment. As part of a calendar produced by Spanish sports daily Sport in support of UNICEF, the young Barcelona forward was photographed gently bathing a baby in a small blue tub. The infant, just months old, came from a family in Mataró, near Barcelona, that had been selected for the shoot.
That baby was Lamine Yamal.
On Sunday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the two will stand on opposite sides of the World Cup final. Messi, now 39, leads Argentina in pursuit of back-to-back titles after lifting the trophy in Qatar in 2022. Yamal, who turned 19 just days ago, is the brightest star of a Spain side that won Euro 2024 and has now stormed to the final. Nearly two decades separate the photograph from the rematch, and this time the baby can fight back.
The image resurfaced ahead of Euro 2024, when Yamal’s father posted it with a caption that has since become famous: the beginning of two legends. Photographer Joan Monfort, who took the original frames, has said nobody could have imagined what the picture would come to mean. Both players came through Barcelona’s La Masia academy, and Yamal now wears the club’s number 10 shirt, the same number Messi made iconic.
The cause that first brought them together has stayed with Messi throughout his career. He has served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2010 and has poured resources into children’s health and education projects through his foundation, while Yamal has embraced the responsibility that comes with his platform for the next generation.
That thread runs straight to Belize. UNICEF has worked in this country for decades, supporting programs in child health, education and protection from Belize City to the villages of the south. The same organization behind a simple calendar shoot in 2007 is part of daily life for thousands of Belizean children, a reminder that investments in kids can echo in ways nobody predicts.
When the final kicks off on Sunday, Belizean fans will be split between the sky blue and white of Argentina and the red of Spain. But whichever side wins, the story of the superstar and the baby in the tub belongs to everyone who believes in what a child can become.
The post From bathtub to World Cup final: the Messi and Yamal photo that predicted history appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): In December 2007, a 20-year-old Lionel Messi took part in what seemed like a routine charity assignment. As part of a calendar produced by Spanish sports daily Sport in support of UNICEF, the young Barcelona forward was photographed gently bathing a baby in a small blue tub. The infant,
The post From bathtub to World Cup final: the Messi and Yamal photo that predicted history appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
