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The South American Football Confederation honored World Cup winner Lionel Messi by placing a life-size statue of him at their museum.
The South American Football Confederation honored World Cup winner Lionel Messi by placing a life-size statue of him at their museum.CESAR OLMEDOREUTERS

SOCCER

CONMEBOL unveils Messi statue

The South American Football Confederation honored World Cup winner Lionel Messi by placing a life-size statue of him at their museum.

Jennifer Bubel
Jennifer BubelEnglish_AS

Last week, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) held a ceremony to honor the Argentina national team and its captain Lionel Messi. The president of the confederation Alejandro Dominguez gave a speech, holograms of legends Diego Maradona and Pelé appeared, and a life-size statue of Messi was unveiled.

Messi statue stands next to greats at CONMEBOL museum

Now, the statue has been unveiled at the CONMEBOL museum in Paraguay. It is a life-size statue of Messi holding the World Cup trophy and it sits next to similar statues of Pelé and Maradona. When Messi scored twice in the 2022 World Cup final against France and led Argentina to their third World Cup title, he became a legend.

Messi was already known as one of the greatest soccer players in the history of all time, but he sealed that title by winning the only trophy he lacked in his career. For many years, Argentina’s greatest player (and maybe the world’s) was Diego Maradona, who led the country to the World Cup championship in 1986. But Messi has finally stepped out of Maradona’s shadow and now literally sits beside him as an equal.