Buenos Aires city leaders have just unveiled a bronze statue of Messi, with his familiar image of dribbling on the field.
The statue was unveiled in Buenos Aires on June 28. It was made to honor Lionel Messi’s achievements in football history: eight La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and five FIFA Ballon d’Ors. Messi is also Argentina’s all-time leading scorer with 55 goals.
Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta spoke at the inauguration ceremony. The leader also hoped Messi would reverse his decision to retire from the Argentina national team.
Fans came to take photos on the day of the statue’s unveiling, which depicts a dribble with Messi’s signature left foot.
Some players performed juggling balls around the statue. On this occasion, many fans also called on Messi not to leave the team. About 100,000 fans plan to march in Buenos Aires this Saturday to urge the star wearing the number 10 shirt to reconsider.
Messi decided to leave the national team in a moment of sadness after the recent defeat in the Copa America 2016 final. At that time, this striker missed a penalty and caused Argentina to lose to Chile.
This is the second consecutive year Messi and his teammates have lost to Chile in the Copa America final.
In 2014, Argentina also reached the final match of the 2014 World Cup, but lost to Germany thanks to Mario Gotze’s extra-time goal. Those consecutive defeats made Messi feel tormented and no longer interested in playing for the national team.
