Which football statue have at one point made you catch an unending laugh due to its bizarre look?
Public figures especially footballers have over the years been carved in stone to commemorate their careers which are often filled with mixed feelings either success or struggles.
Is it the uncompromising love & devotion to a single club? Perhaps the player or manager is one of the few outstanding individuals, and the club/country wishes to honor them? Whatever the reason, being immortalized in stone or marble is usually a subject of great honor.
And I say ‘usually’ because, while football statues are usually exceptionally well-made, there have been a few that have gone horribly – yet hilariously – wrong.
Quite a number of footballers have been immortalized through a piece of artwork which without a doubt is the best way to appreciate what legends of the game have achieved on and off the pitch. However, the truth is many of those artworks often time usually fail to capture the essence of their subjects.
Let’s take you through football’s strangest, most awkward, and most hilarious statues.
Worst Football Statues
Sergio Aguero
Former Manchester City forward was honored by the Citizens with a statue of his ecstatic celebration after netting the winner against Queens Park Rangers which led them to their first ever Premier League title.
Throughout Aguero’s, 10 years stay, he won quite a lot of trophies for the club, reason why they thought it well to have a sculpture of him situated in front of the Etihad Stadium.
Following the unveiling, the criticism of the statue made by Andy Scott went viral on social media with many saying the artwork didn’t capture the subject and the entirety posture of the Argentine.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese statue was unveiled in 2017 at Madeira’s airport during the renaming ceremony of the airport to Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport.
Following the unveiling of the statue, Ronaldo’s family asked for the artwork to be replaced due to the criticism it got from fans and neutrals at large and the sculptor of the statue Emanuel Santo was also well criticized.
However, Santo defended himself stating that “Even Jesus didn’t please everyone”. After the statue was on display for 15 months, it was replaced with another statue created by an anonymous Spanish sculptor.
Carlos Valderrama
Valderrama, another legend of the game has his statue situated at the entrance of the Eduardo Santos Stadium, the home ground of Union Magdalena in Colombia, but the strange thing about the artwork is that it’s not one of the prettiest you’ll see around.
The wild-haired Colombian had his statue unveiled in 2002, but since the unveiling of the artwork, quite a number of fans still marveled at how Amilkar Ariza managed to create all the curled hair of the statue.
However, while the fans appreciate the sculptor for the curled hair done by Ariza, they didn’t quite come to terms with what he did with Valderrama’s hands.
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Diego Maradona
The late Diego Armando Maradona is undoubtedly a cult hero to every Argentine and football enthusiast who saw Diego play on the pitch with his electrifying dribbles and skill, as such he surely deserves to be immortalized.
Unfortunately, the bronze statue of the Argentine unveiled in 2017 at Kolkata didn’t in any way do justice to the intent of the sculptor which obviously is to immortalize the former Napoli legend.
The statue didn’t in any way depict the chubbiness of Diego and the sculptor made the artwork so thick that many kept asking if truly that was Maradona’s statue?
Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez one of Uruguay’s finest players to play the game also has a statue of him in his hometown of Salto which was unveiled in 2016 following his brilliant career.
The current free agent was bestowed this honor by sculptor Alberto Morales Saravia, who made a stone carve of the Uruguayan donning the national team jersey with his signature celebration.
While Suarez appreciate the sculptor for the gesture when he uploaded a video thanking the creator for the statue on social media, unfortunately, the statue was vandalized by a drunk supporter.
Alexis Sanchez
Given the cult status of Sanchez in the Chilean national team, the forward certainly deserves a statue. In 2017, Sanchez’s statue was unveiled at his hometown of Tocopilla, which sees him pose in his traditional free kick position with his shorts up and hands on his hips.
Sanchez was a menace to defenders in the English Premier while at Arsenal and Barcelona respectively, but that can’t be said of his time at Manchester United and presently at Inter Milan where he’s currently having a torrid time.
The statue was vandalized and severely damaged with its face disfigured and the number seven on the back being scratched off by angry fans who created anarchy and damaged the city of Tocopilla during a protest.
Michael Essien
Essien’s statue in Kumasi was another hilarious artwork that didn’t go down well with every Ghanaian fan and neutral of how monstrous, ugly, and awkward the artwork looked.
The statue depicts Essien in a bizarre and contorted pose combined with robotic features that make it a sight to forget.
The Ghanaian achievements at both international and continental levels deserve a statue to his name in his hometown, but the artwork made for him by an anonymous sculptor isn’t the best way to appreciate the former Chelsea man.
Mo Salah
Mo Salah is arguably the most famous and best football player ever to come out of Egypt and has continuously proved to be one of the finest in the game over the years both at the international and continental levels.
The statue of Salah was unveiled in 2018 in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh, it’s no doubt a contender for the worst artwork ever made.
The sculptor Mia Abdel Allah never thought of ridiculing the Egyptian superstar, but his artwork didn’t capture Liverpool’s man.
The statue which was displayed at the World Youth Forum in Egypt in 2018, looks hilarious and didn’t portray the traditional goal celebration that the sculptor based the making of the statue on.
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Best Football Statues
Zidane & Materazzi
Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt into the chest of Marco Materazzi is still remembered as one of the iconic moments in World Cup history when France lost to the Azzurri in the 2006 final.
The statue which was originally unveiled in 2012 outside the Pompidou Centre in Paris, got quite a lot of commendation and applause for how the sculptor created the moment and also depicts the scene back in the final.
To commemorate that iconic moment, Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed created a giant bronze statue that stands 16ft tall, now in the possession of the Qatar Museum Authority named ‘Coup de Tete‘ which means ‘Headbutt’.
Lev Yashin
In 1997, Russia’s legendary goalie Yashin statue was installed at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow same as the Dynamo stadium which depicts the excellent jumping skill he possessed during his active days.
The artwork was an inspired work by Alexander Rukavishnikov, and as far as football statues are concerned Lev Yashin’s statue remains one of the best stone-carved monuments erected to immortalize a legend of such caliber.
Sir Alex Ferguson
On the day of Fergie’s statue unveiling an estimated 2,500 supporters were reported to turn up to see the unveiling, with all of United’s players back then also present.
The legendary boss unapologetically deserved the statue having won every trophy a top manager would have wished to win at the highest level of his managerial career, a 7ft tall statue was erected outside the Old Trafford stadium to commemorate his achievement at Manchester United.
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