Holographic Pelé and Maradona pay tribute to Messi
At a tribute event put on by CONMEBOL for the Argentina national team, Lionel Messi was honored with hologram versions of Diego Maradona and Pelé.
Since Argentina won the 2022 World Cup, the celebrations and honors have not slowed down. Ahead of their friendly against Curaçao on Tuesday, the team and its captain, Lionel Messi, were honored by the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) with a ceremony.
Pelé and Maradona appear as holograms
As Argentina’s captain and hero, Messi received a special honor - a replica statue of the star, which will stand next to ones of Argentine legend Diego Maradona and Brazilian legend Pelé at the CONMEBOL museum.
Though the late Maradona and Pelé are no longer with us, they were still able to appear in holographic form to honor Messi and send him a message.
“I feel very proud because [Messi] has a lot of responsibility,” said the Pelé hologram. “I feel proud because there are three generations that accompany me with Maradona and Messi.”
Maradona was a legend for Argentina in much the same way that Messi is now. In fact, Messi led the country to its first World Cup win since Maradona did it, 36 years ago.
“The Argentine fans like good players, and Leo has shown that he is one,” said the Maradona hologram. “I love you so much. Keep breaking records and let others talk, that you will be the best in all of history.”
Messi indeed does continue to show why he is one of the best soccer players of all time. In Argentina’s 7-0 thrashing against Curaçao, he hit his ninth international hat-trick and with it, surpassed the 100-international-goal mark. He is just the third player to score 100+ international goals, behind Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (122) and Iran’s Ali Daei (109).