Spanish national team member Lamin Jamal last night he became the youngest scorer in the history of the European Football Championship. At the age of 16 years and 362 days, the young football player made history on Tuesday, July 9.
Lamin Jamal's equalizer in the semi-final against France is one of those goals that stand the test of time. The Barcelona player received the ball about 25 meters away, after a few feints he broke free from the keeper and placed the ball on his left foot. And it ended up in the top corner of the French goal.
"A superstar is born"
Football legends also agree that this is a generational talent.
"A superstar is born." It was the moment of the match, maybe of the whole tournament," said former England striker Gary Lineker, now a BBC presenter.
"Just amazing." We've been talking about him throughout the tournament and how incredibly young he is. What he has done is simply amazing," enthused former England striker Alan Shearer.
Lineker went a step further and said he had "never seen anyone do anything like that".
"Even Messi did it later. He (Jamal) is the best 16-year-old I've ever seen," concluded the former Barcelona player.
Connection with Messi
Comparisons of Jamal, who will turn 17 the day before the final of the European Championship, with Lionel Messi have not stopped since the moment the young footballer stepped onto the big football stage. Now they are especially interesting because of the photos that have gone viral on social networks, where Messi is holding a baby in his arms. That baby is, exactly, Lamin Jamal.
Namely, it was 2007 and Barcelona players posed with children and their families for a calendar as part of an annual charity event organized by the local newspaper Diario Sport and Unicef.
"We made the calendar with the help of Unicef," said photographer Joan Montfort. "Unicef organized a lottery in the neighborhood where Jamal's family lived. They signed up for the lottery to have their photo taken at the Camp Nou stadium with Barcelona players. And they were selected," said the photographer who was in charge of the photography.
Lionel Messi, then 20 years old, was randomly matched with Lamin Jamal's family. His mother, who is from Equatorial Guinea, is next to Messi and the several-month-old baby in one of the photos.
The old photo from 2007 has resurfaced after Jamal's father posted it on his Instagram profile with the caption: "The beginning of two legends"
Photo: AP/Joan MonfortLamin Jamal's mother is also in some photos
The photographer did not know that Jamal was in the photo
The photo shoot itself was not an easy task, the photographer recalled, mainly because Messi was not sure how to behave with Jamal, who was in a plastic tub for the photo shoot.
"Messi is quite an introverted guy, he is shy. He was leaving the changing room and suddenly found himself in another changing room with a plastic tub full of water and a baby in it. It was complicated. At first, he didn't even know how to hold her," Monfort said.
According to him, he had no idea that Lamin Jamal was in the photos from 2007 until a friend sent him a message when they started to become popular on the Internet. Montfort has been a sports photographer since 1991, but says he's never experienced this level of excitement about any of his photos.
"It's very exciting to be associated with something that has caused such a sensation." To be honest, it's a very nice feeling," the photographer concluded.
