Post by Dossevi Trenou

« His Anointed One » 😎 https://lnkd.in/ejYweW5q God’s will? Destiny? Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal, that photo and the WC final - The boy in the baby bath has unbelievably become the successor to Messi “Maybe Lionel Messi has picked up lots of babies, maybe it’s chance, but for those of us who have faith, who believe in something beyond, ‘chance’ is God’s pseudonym when he doesn’t want to sign his name,” Luis de la Fuente says. “In life, everything happens for a reason. Sometimes it’s true that the circle isn’t closed, but in my view there’s something else, something … I don’t know, mystical, spiritual.” [..] The man who took [the picture], photographer Joan Monfort, says he didn’t believe in destiny before but does now. In it, Messi, the greatest footballer of all time, bathes an unknown baby with a cherubic smile. The child, chosen at random and surrounded by bubbles, is Lamine Yamal. The footballer De la Fuente says was “touched by God’s wand” was baptised by him too. On Sunday they face each other in the World Cup final[..] Not long ago Lamine Yamal was shown the photo. “God willing, I can face him in the final.”[..] The next time Lamine Yamal appeared in a photo with Messi it was at Barcelona’s training ground. He was still small, barely 11 or 12; and by then Messi was, well, Messi[..] He recalls the first time he felt something like fame[..] aged 13 and already that kid from Barcelona. Messi knows that well, and it is not all they share. He had come from Argentina to Catalonia aged 12[..] Lamine Yamal’s dad is from Morocco, his mum from Equatorial Guinea. Born in Catalonia, he signals Rocafonda’s 08304 postcode when he scores. It is a barrio where half of the population is at risk of poverty and about 20% are Moroccan[..] And Lamine Yamal stands before him, a winner already when he is still only starting out: a passing of the torch for Messi to put on hold, if only for a day. “There is a new generation of players that’s very good and has many years ahead,” Messi said. “If I had to choose one, it would be Lamine. Without doubt, he’s the best.” Lamine Yamal said: “If we meet on the pitch there will be mutual respect because for me he is the best in history.” For the first time and surely the last, on Sunday, in the most global city of all, they will. In the World. Cup. Final. Where to even start with the symbolism? Where to find an explanation for the impossible? Spain versus Argentina. European champions versus South American champions. Lionel Messi versus Lamine Yamal. The 19-year-old at his first World Cup, the age Messi was when they first met, versus the 39-year-old at his sixth and surely last. The teenager then who went on to mark a generation, now a father, against the teenager called to mark the next, his anointed one. The boy handed Messi’s No 10 like Messi was handed Maradona’s, the boy handed to him almost 20 years ago, unknown then, an icon now, the boy in the bath. –By Sid Lowe, The Guardian - Fri 17 Jul 2026 15.00 EDT