'What was the architect thinking?' Messi statue mocked online

Footballers have been blessed with some… ahem… interesting statues over the years - not least Cristiano Ronaldo - but now, it’s the turn of Argentine legend Lionel Messi to have some artwork done of him which isn’t all that flattering.

Standing at 85 feet in Patagonia, the statue depicts the player kneeling with one arm raised in an apparent goal celebration.

The man behind the art, Aldo Beroisa, told the Associated Press: “He is Argentina’s natural ambassador. For me, it was very important, not only as an artist but as an Argentine.”

Sounds innocent enough.

However, in addition to the kneeling Messi, a World Cup trophy is placed in front of his crotch, and we don’t think we need to explain how that has generated a reaction online.

“Messi officially has the worst sports statue ever,” wrote one X/Twitter account:

Political commentator Kyle Kulinski tweeted: “Come on man”:

The rather appropriately named ‘Non Aesthetic Things’ posted photos of the statue:

And similarly, an account named ‘Chaotic Memes’ also shared the image, writing: “What was the architect thinking?”

“Who designed this,” another user asked, attaching a GIF of Messi crying:

Sharing a picture of the statue from behind, a third wrote: “Crazy angle”:

And a fourth wondered: “Couldn’t they make him hold the World Cup trophy instead?”:

It hasn’t been the best time for Messi statues in recent weeks, as a 70-foot one of him in Kolkata had to be taken down because it was “found unsafe”.

“We have noticed that the statue is swaying in the wind,” state lawmaker Sharadwat Mukherjee told the AFP news agency.

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