A four story high inflatable statue of Lionel Messi will be erected in the centre of Buenos Aires ahead of Argentina’s crucial Group C game with Mexico today.
Alejandro Mañanes, an Argentine artist from La Plata, says he has spent weeks designing the statue of the PSG forward’s head and torso, complete with blue and white Argentina shirt. The design will be inflated next to the Obelisk in Buenos Aires as a “message of encouragement for the national team fans” says Mañanes, who hopes to “revive the passion for football in our people, who were disheartened by the disappointment of losing the opening game [to Saudi Arabia].”
This is not the first time Mañanes has produced this type of work, having worked on a similar statue of France ’98 mascot, Footix, before doing the same in 2010 using Diego Maradona for his design and then displaying his own version of Christ the Redeemer, the famous Brazilian statue that overlooks Rio de Janeiro, wearing an Argentina shirt during the 2018 Copa America.
GWFN
