South America sculpts Messi statue
On March 27, the South American Football Federation held a ceremony to unveil the statue of Messi at its headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The statue is housed in the museum of the Federation, next to statues of the Argentine legend, Diego Maradona and the Brazilian legend, Pele.
Messi, team-mate and coach Lionel Scaloni also received copies of the 2022 World Cup, the 2022 Intercontinental Super Cup and the 2021 Copa America, three titles they won in two years. "We are living in a very special moment, and receiving a lot of love," Messi said. "Once again, a South American team has won the World Cup."
Argentina is the first South American team to win the World Cup since Brazil in 2002. From 2006 to 2018, European teams including Italy, Spain, Germany and France continuously won.
The 2022 World Cup is Argentina's third World Cup, following the previous two in 1978 and 1986.
At the 2022 World Cup, Messi contributed seven goals and three assists, winning the Best Player and Silver Shoe awards. At the 2014 World Cup, when Argentina lost to Germany in the final, the Argentina captain also won the Best Player award. He is the only person to be voted the World Cup's best player twice.
The 2022 World Cup is the final piece in Messi's massive and perfect collection of achievements. Before that, the 35-year-old striker won 10 La Liga, one Ligue 1, four Champions Leagues, U20 World Cup 2005, Olympic gold medal 2008, Copa America 2021, Intercontinental Super Cup 2022, seven Golden Balls and six Golden Shoes. Europe.
On March 23, in the first match after the 2022 World Cup, Argentina defeated Panama 2-0. The goal to set the score is the 800th goal in Messi's career. The 35-year-old striker and his teammates still have a friendly match with Curacao on March 28, before returning to the club.
Maradona was the brightest star of the 1986 World Cup. At the tournament in Mexico 36 years ago, he contributed five goals and five assists for Argentina. Maradona also won two Serie A and a UEFA Cup with Napoli. Meanwhile, Pele is the player who won the most World Cups. He was crowned with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970. Maradona and Pele died in 2020 and 2022.
