Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal will meet in a master vs apprentice scenario in the World Cup final on Sunday.
Messi has been regarded as the greatest player of all time but is coming towards the end of his career at 39 whereas Yamal, who recently turned 19, is being tipped to become the next global superstar.
As the two prepare to do battle and carry their nation on their shoulders in the World Cup final, there is a mutual respect from one Barcelona academy graduate to another.
Lionel Messi said Lamine Yamal is ‘one of the best’
Yamal and Messi first met when they had a photograph together while the former was only 20 months old.
Things have changed since then and now they are both key players for their nations.
Greatness recognises greatness though and in May, Messi told Diario Sport: “There is a new generation of footballers who are very good and who have many years ahead of them, but if I have to choose one because of age, for what he has done so far and for the future he may have, it is Lamine.
“There’s no doubt, for me, he’s the best.”
Meanwhile, Yamal has previously admitted that Neymar was his hero growing up but realises that Messi is the best to do it.
“I think that in every match he shows that he is the best player in history,” Yamal said to RTVE. “If someone has doubts, it is because they are looking for them; there is nothing more to say there. For me, he is the best.”
Have Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal ever played against each other?
The World Cup final will be the first time that Messi and Yamal have ever come up against each other on the pitch.
Even when Messi was playing for Paris Saint-Germain, the two never crossed paths in the Champions League and the 39-year-old was long gone from the Camp Nou before Yamal made his debut at the age of 15.
This game won’t determine who is better out of the two, but it could be the perfect stage for one great to bow out and another to step into his shoes.
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