New York, July 18 -- Nearly two decades ago, Lionel Messi helped bathe a five-month-old baby at a charity calendar photo shoot in Barcelona.
On Sunday, that baby faces him in a World Cup final. Argentina captain Messi reflected Friday on his unlikely first meeting with Spain forward Lamine Yamal, recalling the viral 2007 photo ahead of their first-ever meeting on a football pitch.
"Honestly, that photo of us is crazy, because, well, that's life, right? I was in that photo with himas a baby, and here we both are, playing in a World Cup final," Messi told reporters in New York.
Messi, 39, was 20 and only beginning his career at Barcelona when the photo was taken.
Yamal, 19, has since emerged as one of the club's brightest young stars. "La...