It was an image that told the story of the friendship between Lamine Yamal and Vicky Lopez as well as the characteristic playful side neither has lost on their way to the top.
Last November, the two Barcelona players were named Europes best under-21 footballers; Lopez winning the Golden Girl award and Yamal the Golden Boy. Posing with their trophies after the ceremony, they laughed and pointed at each other as they acted out the internets favourite Spider-Man meme.
At last weeks Ballon dOr gala, Yamal, 18, and 19-year-old Lopez were once again recognised as Europes best young players, winning the Kopa Trophy in the mens and womens categories respectively.
It was another big shared moment for two of the most exciting young talents in world football, whose close bond is based on the huge amount they have in common on and off the pitch.
Born in Madrid in 2006, Lopez was nine years old when, as she was juggling a ball on a beach in Benidorm, a woman wearing a Rayo Vallecano shirt approached her. That woman was Alba Mellado, a Madrid CFF player and youth coach who Lopez namechecked last week when accepting her Kopa Trophy in Paris.
Mellado had previously tried to convince Lopezs family that she should join Madrid CFF. Those approaches were turned down because they did not want to separate her from the friends she had made at the local boys team she was then playing for.
Fate brought them together that day on Spains Costa Blanca. Mellado couldnt believe they were on holiday in the same place at the same time. It took her a couple of days to approach Lopez, as at first she wasnt sure if the girl she thought she recognised from back home was the same one she had been trying to sign.
One day, she went to the beach wearing her Rayo shirt (she had previously played for that Madrid-based club), in a bid to attract Lopezs attention. The plan succeeded.
Do you play for Rayo Vallecano? asked the girl with a mischievous smile.
And is your name Vicky? Mellado replied.
Lopez went on to become the youngest player in Liga F history when she eventually made her debut for Madrid CFF in September 2021, aged 15 years and 71 days.
The following July, on her 16th birthday, she joined Barcelona and became one of the first female players to live at La Masia. For years, the clubs famed youth academy was only home to their male prospects. Yamal was staying there at that time, but the two players had struck up a bond already, years earlier.
During a youth tournament in which both boys and girls teams participated, Lopez and some of her friends met Yamal, who signed for Barcelona in 2014 at the age of seven. When he finished primary school at 12, he went to live at La Masia.
After Lopez arrived in summer 2022, they found they had a lot in common.
Both have African roots: Lopezs mother was born in Nigeria, Yamals father is Moroccan and his mum comes from Equatorial Guinea.
Both grew up in humble neighbourhoods and still carry the spirit of the barrio with them today. Yamal celebrates his connection to Rocafonda, where he was raised, not far along the coast from Barcelona. I came from a flat where the kitchen and the bed were in the same room, Yamal said last month on a podcast hosted by Spanish journalist Jose Ramon de la Morena. Lopez grew up in Vallecas, a historically working-class part of the Spanish capital.
Yamal had to deal with his parents separating when he was very young, and his family made many sacrifices to help progress his football career. At the age of 12, Lopez lost her mother to cancer.
Both had to mature quickly. Football was an outlet.
When Lopez was little, she played for a local boys team in Madrid but would watch videos of Barcelonas Brazilian star Neymar over and over. She would go to the playground to imitate his moves. Yamal has always said his favourite player growing up was Neymar, too.
They both prefer to play on the wing, Yamal on the right and Lopez on the left, even though she is most often used in attacking midfield for Barcelona.
The two of them have similar tastes in music as well. Both have spoken about playing dembow (a genre that influenced reggaeton but has a faster beat) before matches as a way to get themselves in the zone. When you see them on the pitch, it looks like they are playing to that rhythm; a fast, joyful and cheeky game.
If we have fun, they cant stop us, Lopez said in an interview with the EFE news agency when playing for Spain at the European Championship in the summer. These words could have come straight from Yamals mouth at the mens Euros a year earlier.
Both understand football as something to be enjoyed without inhibitions. Instead of shrinking into the background as the least experienced players in their squads, they have done the opposite, for club and country.
Lopez became the youngest player to represent Barcelona Femeni (in the professional era) at the age of 16 years, 49 days in September 2022. It didnt take her long to start joking around with new team-mates who had been role models for her, such as two-time Ballon dOr winner Alexia Putellas, with whom she still has a very good relationship. Putellas called her Stitch after the alien character in the Disney movie series and Lopez responded in kind by calling her Lilo, Stitchs closest friend.
Though there are many similarities in their backgrounds, upbringing and attitudes, the experiences for Yamal and Lopez have diverged since arriving in elite football.
Since making his first Barcelona appearance in April 2023 (the youngest player to debut for their mens team this century, aged 15 years, 291 days), Yamal has become an indisputable starter. He is now a global celebrity who seems to have become even more comfortable in revealing more about himself and who he is, as he discovers it, much like Lopez.
But he came to Barcelona at a moment that was perfect for him. The team were in crisis. His enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air, and he was able to carve out a place for himself and his huge talent.
Lopez, in contrast, joined a womens side at the top of their game and with some of the best talents in the world playing her position Putellas, fellow multiple Ballon dOr winner Aitana Bonmati and Claudia Pina.
As Lopez is versatile enough to play either as an attacking midfielder or winger, manager Pere Romeu can make room for her, but she has to compete with the heavyweights of the womens game for minutes. That has not allowed for such a rapid explosion as Yamals career enjoyed, but at 19, she still has plenty of time to get there.
What is their relationship like today? Sources close to both say they still have a strong bond, although each is going their own way, especially now that they have come of age and no longer live at La Masia. Yamal showed up to watch his friend in several home matches last season, especially towards its finale something few male players of his stature at Barcelona do.
We dont talk every day, but we have a very good relationship, Lopez said in January. I pay a lot of attention to him, I watch him play and I always tell him hes crazy. I hope he stays that way for many more years. He pushes me (to improve).
(Top photo: German Parga/FC Barcelona)
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Barcelona, Spain, Champions League, La Liga, Women’s Soccer
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