Well, they don't call it "erecting a statue" for nothing, it seems!
A new statue of soccer superstar Lionel Messi has been, yes, erected in the Patagonia region of Messi's native Argentina, and with all due respect to everyone involved, it really needed a few more rounds of quality control.
The massive statue, unveiled in the town of Cutral Col on June 24 in celebration of Messi's 39th birthday, stands a staggering 85 feet tall and depicts Messi on his knees rejoicing after a goal.
Between those legs stands a giant replica of a FIFA World Cup trophy, which, for the unfamiliar, is shaped a bit like one of those tall beer tumblers with a soccer ball on top.
You can probably guess where this is going: The trophy's shape and placement looks a lot like—and there's just no other way to say this—Messi's bush and giant wang are hanging out. See for yourself below.
The statue is very aptly timed because, aside from Messi's 39th birthday, it comes just days after Messi broke a world record in this year's World Cup championship.
In June 22nd's match between Australia and Austria, held at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Messi broke German footballer Miroslav Klose's all-time World Cup goal record, and did so handily.
Going into the match, Klose's record was 16. Messi quickly broke it, scoring his 17th World Cup goal in the first half and then an 18th in the second, leading Argentina to a 2-0 win against Austria.
Klose is now tied for second-place for most World Cup goals scored with French football star Kylian Mbappe.
So he's certainly worth celebrating! But this particular statue seems to have been a bit, well, messy.
The sculptor, Aldo Beroisa, recently told the New York Times that the Messi sculpture has been a rush job as he and his team have labored to get the sculpture finished before the end of the World Cup, in which Argentina has a real chance to rack up a second consecutive World Cup victory.
Along the way, Beroisa has suffered several setbacks as the harsh conditions of the Argentinian desert have repeatedly damaged the statue during construction.
Beroisa himself has also suffered injuries, including a damaged ankle and nearly breaking his neck in a fall while, uh, erecting his statue.
God love him for his tenacity. But uh... well, presumably, a statue of Messi with his giant, heaving junk hanging out was probably not the plan!
The cawk-n-bawls appearance is particularly vivid when the statue is viewed from the back. From that angle, one struggles to even conceive what is actually supposed to be up there in front of Messi's legs.
Even worse, the statue does not exactly depict Messi wearing any pants... which only enhances the misunderstanding of the visuals and even raises an important question: Is that HIS juicy wiener hanging out, or is he about to ride the juicy wiener in question?
Perhaps the answer is both! Why limit ourselves? Either way, as you can probably imagine, the internet is going *ahem* hog wild about this Messi tribute.
Looking on the bright side, the new Patagonia Messi sculpture has all but eclipsed the last Messi sculpture, a 70-foot-tall mess in Kolkata, India, that made Messi look like he had massively swollen testicles in need of immediate medical attention.
That statue has since been dismantled over safety concerns. Here's hoping the Patagonia one stays forever, even if just for the laughs.
