A pure gold replica of the Barcelona forward's left foot, valued at $5.25 million, was unveiled Wednesday in Tokyo. The foot was created by Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka to commemorate the player's achievements.
''It's exceptional. You can see each line in the foot,'' said Messi's brother, Rodrigo. ''It's an impressive piece of work.'' The jeweler said he cast Messi's foot in Spain at the end of 2012.
Wong Wong launched the Wong Wong Trophy Collection, a series of trophies to recognize the best and worst of football. For the first edition, the metal sculptures, in silver finish, embody two football players standing atop of wooden hexagonal bases.
Each sculpture represents two categories -best dive and worst tackle.
The best dive trophy shall be awarded to the player to have the best executed the art of the dive and successfully deceives the referee.
Best dive Trophy inspiration: Drogba
The worse tackle trophy shall be awarded to the player who is judged to have best execute a dirty tackle against an opposing player. High Kicks & Studs Up tackles are both eligible.
Worst tackle Trophy inspiration: De Jong
Thousands of people have gathered to see the official unveiling of a statue of football manager Brian Clough in Nottingham.
The statue, designed by sculptor Les Johnson, stands at the junction of King and Queen streets and was chosen out of 4 submitted designs which you can find here.
The statue is the result of a fund-raising campaign by a small group of volunteers from the Brian Clough Statue Fund. They raised £70,000 in just 18 months. The chairman of the fund, Paul Ellis, described Les’s sculpture as ‘superb.’
“I have been to see the clay version of the statue and I was extremely impressed,” said Paul. “The likeness is perfect - it sent a tingle down my spine when I saw it - it’s incredible. I’m delighted that Mrs Clough and Elizabeth thought it was perfect too. The approval of Brian Clough’s family has been vital every step of the way and I am sure we will have a statue that everyone can be proud of.”