A new life-size statue of Lionel Messi has been created to commemorate Argentina’s historic World Cup win. Messi, who captained Argentina to their first World Cup triumph since 1986 in December, scored seven goals, including two in the final, and won the Golden Ball.
The sculpture depicts Messi in his Argentina kit, holding the World Cup trophy which he lifted in front of fans in Buenos Aires on Thursday.
Messi has had numerous statues erected before, but this one celebrates his remarkable achievement with Argentina.
Unlike many other sculptures of him, Lionel Messi’s new statue bears a striking resemblance to the football star.
Messi was pleased with the sculpture and posed for a photo next to it.
The statue will be placed at the South American Football Federation headquarters in Peru alongside statues of football legends Diego Maradona and Pele.
CONMEBOL has honoured Lionel Messi with Baton of Football and a life-sized statue 🐐👑#Messi𓃵 #tuesdayvibe pic.twitter.com/NtshLy1i9c
— SportyBet (@SportyBet) March 28, 2023
Lionel Messi expressed his joy at being honored with the statue and thanked both the South American Football Federation and God for the blessing.
The football star was delighted with the recognition of his achievement and showed his appreciation for the statue.
“I’m fulfilled with this; it was what I was missing,” he said at the ceremony.
“Thank God I got everything in football. I keep these cups in the museum at home. Thanks to CONMEBOL for this tribute to us and to Sole for the song, we listen to it a lot and it reminds me of when she sang it to Diego. We are living very beautiful moments, we were lucky to return to Argentina after the World Cup and we received many expressions of affection. It was different, that’s how the people of Argentina show it.”
The reaction to Lionel Messi’s new statue has been overwhelmingly positive. This is in contrast to six years ago when a statue of Cristiano Ronaldo at the Madeira Airport was considered disastrous. The difference in public reception of the two statues is notable.
The Madeira Airport has been officially renamed as the Cristiano Ronaldo Airport.
They’ve unveiled this statue. Looks more like Shanta. pic.twitter.com/NlfTD6mUbC
— ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) March 29, 2017
It led to plenty of trolling, with Emanuel Santos, the man who made it, being widely ridiculed across the board.
Reacting to the two sculptures, one fan wrote: “Messi’s statue has touched more World Cups than human Ronaldo.”
Another said: “Whoever designed the Ronaldo statue was definitely a Messi fan.”
A third user chimed in: “Only Ronaldo had a World Cup they would have paid more attention to sculpting his statue.”