Jack Tame: Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal – coincidences and destiny

What’s the biggest moment of serendipity or coincidence in your life?  

I can’t say I’ve had anything too spooky; a few random encounters that have made me think ‘whoa...’  

I was in Versailles in France, standing in a gift shop, perusing a bookshelf, when I realised the person standing immediately next to me was an old friend from Christchurch. Neither of us had any idea the other was in Europe, let alone France, let alone the palace. A minute or two either way and we would have been ships in the night. There must be so many of those narrowly missed connections in life.  

Certainly no coincidence or serendipity in my life can come anywhere near that of the world’s greatest football player and the young man whom many people believe is the closest thing to his heir apparent.  

The photo has been everywhere over the last few days, but if you haven’t yet seen it... it’s a doozy. In 2007, Lionel Messi, a young star on Barcelona’s globally-famous football team, was roped in to a photoshoot for UNICEF. Lamine Yamal’s parents entered a competition in the local newspaper to win a photoshoot for their baby with a famous sports star. The rest is history. 

In the photos, Messi cares for a chubby little baby. In one photo he gives him a bubble bath. In another, he cradles the baby in his arms. It’s a bit awkward and dated. Apparently as a 20-year-old, Messi had absolutely no idea how to hold a baby and you definitely get that impression in the photos. But it wouldn’t be notable today except for the fact that the 5-month-old little chubster in the photo is now also the star of Barcelona’s globally famous football team, and that 19 years since they met for the first time, these two extraordinary stars of the world’s most popular sport are about to play each other for the very first time in the Football World Cup Final.  

What are the chances? Honestly. Just try and consider a fraction of the different variables that need to line up to make Monday morning happen.  

First of all, you need the photoshoot. It needs to be with a Barcelona player. Not just any player, but the player who will in years to come be widely considered the greatest to ever take a football field. Then you need to win the raffle, not just with any kid, but with a kid who will also become a professional football player. Not just any player, mind you, but the wunderkind of the Spanish national team, one of the world’s best-known players in the best-known sport, and a star of the very same club as the guy who held him in the photo.  

Then, the two have to make their respective national teams in the same Football World Cup. One of them, as one of the youngest players in the tournament, the other as one of the oldest. Those two teams need to be on separate sides of the draw. They need to both make the final. You thought Lotto’s had long odds? The likelihood of all of these things happening is absolutely preposterous.   

Because I’m a total nerd, I follow a subreddit on social media where people pose silly maths questions, and members of the community show their workings to try and solve them. I knew as soon as Argentina qualified for the final and the photo of Messi and Yamal started trending once again, there’d be a robust debate about the statistical probability of these events. While all the posters agree there are too many variables to get a perfect answer, the best efforts this week put the probability at somewhere between one in 59 billion, and one in three quadrillion. 

It makes you think that little bit harder about the random encounters in your own life. Who knows if that person you randomly bump into and almost immediately forget, could in years to come, be one of the most important people in your life?   

The photographer who shot Messi and Yamal almost two decades ago was interviewed about the experience this week. It’s hard to disagree with his take. As the two stars of his photoshoot prepare to meet once again and face off in the biggest stage in sport, he was asked for his thoughts: “a true miracle of destiny”. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame podcast
from News Talks at be.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
What is the biggest moment of serendipity or coincidence that
you can recall in your entire life. I want to
start with that question this morning. Just think about it
for a moment. What is the biggest moment of serendipity
or coincidence in your life. I can't say I've had

(00:34):
anything too spooky. I don't think a few like kind
of random encounters that have made me think, oh, you know,
I was in I was traveling once in Versailles in France.
I was kind of standing in a gift shop as
you do, perusing a bookshelf, when I realized that the
person who was standing immediately next to me was an
old friend from christ Church. So neither of us had

(00:57):
any idea that the other was traveling in Europe. Let
alone in France, let alone at the Palace of Versailles.
A minute or two either way, a different bus and
we would have been ships in the night. Then there
must be I don't know, no end of those narrowly
missed connections in life that you actually don't appreciate have happened,

(01:17):
right but for a miner or two either way, and
you miss each other. Certainly, no coincidence, no serendipity in
my life can come anywhere near that of the world's
greatest football player and the young man whom many people
believe is the closest thing to his heir apparent. The
photo has been everywhere over the last couple of days,

(01:37):
but if you haven't seen it yet, it is an
absolute doozy. So in two thousand and seven, Leonel Messi,
a young star on Barcelona's globally famous football team, was
roped into doing a photo shoot for UNICEF le mien Ya.
Marles's parents entered a competition in the local newspaper to

(01:58):
win a photo shoot for their baby with a famous
sports star, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Photos Messi cares for a chubby little baby. In one
photo he gives him a bubble bath. In another, he
cradles the baby in his arms. Honestly, is a bit awkward,
it's a bit dated. Apparently, as a twenty year old,

(02:19):
Messi had absolutely no idea how to hold a baby,
and you definitely get that impression for the photos, and
it wouldn't really be notable today, except for the fact
that the five month old little chubster in the photo,
the five month old being bathed and held by Messi,
is now also the star of Barcelona's globally famous football team,

(02:42):
and that, nineteen years since they met for the first time,
these two extraordinary stars of the world's most popular sport
are about to play each other for the very first
time in a football World Cup final. I mean, honestly,
what are the chances? What are the chances? Just try
and consider a fraction of the different variables that need

(03:07):
to line up in order to make Monday morning happen. So,
first of all, right, go back nineteen years. You need
to have a photo shoot. The photo shoot needs to
be with a Barcelona football player, not just any football player,
but the player who will, in years to come be
widely considered the greatest to ever take a football field.
Then you need to win the raffle, not just with

(03:29):
any kid, but with a kid who will also become
a professional football player. Not just any professional football player,
mind you, but the vunderkind of the Spanish national team,
one of the world's best players in the best known sport,
and a star of the very same club as the
guy who held them in the bubble bath. Then the

(03:50):
two of them have to make their respective national teams
in the same Football World Cup. One of them is
one of the youngest players in the tournament, the other
is one of the oldest. Then those two teams need
to come from separate sides of the draw to both
make the final. That Lotto had long odds. The likelihood
of all of these things happening is just absolutely preposterous.

(04:15):
Because I'm a total nerd. I follow a subreddit on
social media where people pose silly maths questions and members
of the community try and show their workings in order
to solve them or get close to solving them. I
just knew as soon as Argentina qualified for the final

(04:35):
and the photo of Messi and Yamal as a baby
started trending on the internet once again, there would be
a robust debate about the statistical probability of these events.
I knew it would happen. I was on my subreddit
about ten minutes after the final whistle. While all of
the posters agree there are honestly too many variables to

(04:57):
get a perfect answer, the best efforts this week put
the probability it's somewhere between one in fifty nine billion
and one in three quadrillion. It is, in short, highly unlikely.
It makes you think, don't you reckon that little bit

(05:18):
harder about the random encounters in your own life? Who
knows if that person you randomly bump into and almost
immediately forget could in years to come be one of
the most important people in your life. Who knows? Who knows?
The photographer who shot Messi and Yamal almost two decades

(05:40):
ago was interviewed about the experience this week, and honestly,
it's hard to disagree with his take. As the two
stars of his photo shoot prepare to meet once again
and face off on the biggest stage in global sport,
he was asked for his thoughts. It was, he said,
a true miracle of destiny.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
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