Messi Sculpture Controversy: An 85-foot tall statue of Lionel Messi has been installed in Argentina, but its design is being ridiculed on social media. Fans are raising questions about the place of the World Cup trophy in this statue made of 70 tons of steel and iron.
Lionel Messi Statue (Buenos Aires): On one hand, while Lionel Messi is breaking records for Argentina in the Football World Cup being held in America, on the other hand, a round of debate and mockery has started on social media regarding a huge statue of him in his own country. This case is of ‘Cutral Co’, a small town in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina, where an 85 feet (26 meter) high statue of Messi has been installed. Made of 70 tonnes of steel and iron, the statue is designed in such a way that Messi is sitting on his knees and looking at the people passing by on the highway. But there is a lot of criticism among football fans regarding the design and structure of this statue.
Instead of a trophy, it became a joke
People say that the sculptor has made the face and upper part of the body of the statue very well, but the lower half including the legs does not look natural at all. But the reason for the real controversy is something else. On the iron grass where Messi is kneeling, the golden World Cup trophy has been placed exactly between his thighs. Because of this strange angled design, people are making fun of it on social media.
A fan wrote on Most people believe that the attempt to depict a golden moment in the history of the game turned out to be a big mistake.
However, 61-year-old sculptor Beroiza has rejected all these criticisms. He says that Messi is the ambassador of Argentina and being an Argentinian, it is a matter of pride for him to make this statue. Despite the controversies, a large number of people are coming to see this huge statue.
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On one hand, there is controversy over the statue in the country, on the other hand, on the fields of America, 39-year-old Lionel Messi is in the best form of his career. He has taken Argentina to the knockout stage by scoring five goals in the two group matches played. After scoring a brilliant hat-trick against Algeria in the first match, Messi created history by scoring two goals against Austria in the next match. Despite missing a penalty early in the match, he scored two goals later on to give Argentina an impressive 2–0 victory.
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With these two goals, Messi also broke the record of Germany’s Miroslav Klose (16 goals) for scoring the most goals in the history of the World Cup. Now with 18 goals, Messi has become the all-time top scorer in World Cup history.
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