A giant statue erected in India in honor of world soccer star Lionel Messi has become the center of heated debate rather than praise on social media.
Seeing the statue, a large number of fans remembered Messi Kim and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik more.
A 70-foot (21 m) iron statue of Messi holding the World Cup trophy has been erected in Kolkata to mark Messi’s GOAT tour of India. The manager says the statue is a tribute to the football legend, but when photos and videos of it surfaced on social media, users focused on his likeness rather than the artistic effort.
Social media users say that the statue’s facial features, beard and overall style resemble Shoaib Malik more than Messi. Several users mockingly wrote, “Is this a statue of Messi or the football version of Shoaib Malik?”, while others described it as a “collaboration of Messi plus Shoaib Malik.”
The hilarious comments didn’t stop there, with some users saying that if the name hadn’t been revealed, they would have replaced it with a Pakistani cricket star, while a few jokingly suggested that Shoaib Malik himself come and take a photo with the statue.
Messi fans, on the other hand, say that sculpting is all about intent and passion, not 100% facial likeness. According to him, this statue is proof of the growing football craze in India and Messi’s popularity.
However, the statue has become more meme material than Messi and the debate continues on social media as to whether it is a memorial to football’s GOAT or an unintentionally interesting mix of criticism and football. One thing is for sure, this statue has made more rounds on the internet than Calcutta.
