Football's brilliant and bizarre statues
Zlatan Ibrahimovic latest statue has sparked a buzz online and here’s how the big Swede’s sculpture measures up against the best and worst football sculptures of all-time.
Ibrahimovic was honoured on his native town of Malmo earlier this week with a 500kg statute crafted by Peter Lind.
Lind was widely praised for this piece, unlike some of his colleagues who seriously missed the mark trying to immortalise football’s biggest stars.
Here’s how Zlatan’s masterpiece compares to the best, and worst football statues of all-time.
The WORST
Ronaldo 1.0
Like Zlatan, Cristiano Ronaldo was honoured with his own statue in his native Madeira. Unfortunately for the Juventus star, the sculpture went ‘bust’ and the internet was quick to let him know it.
Fortunately Ronaldo’s blushes were spared by another sculpture with statue 2.0 (featured in the best list) a clear upgrade.
Mohamed Salah
Egyptian Sculptor Mai Abdel Allah claimed her statue was designed to highlight the importance of Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah.
Ironically, it met the brief for all the wrong reasons and the comically bad statue broke the internet.
George Best
A seemingly unrecognisable statue of George Best was unveiled in Belfast on what would have been the Manchester United legend’s 73rd birthday.
The underwhelming applause during the big reveal says it all.
David Beckham
David Beckham is widely renowned as a fashion icon, and the former LA Galaxy star was understandably upset when he caught a glimpse of his statue before an official unveiling in Los Angeles.
Fortunately for Becks, it was all a hoax staged by television host James Corden.
Michael Jackson
As far as we know, Michael Jackson was never a professional footballer, but that didn’t stop the king of pop earning himself a statue out the front of Fulham’s Craven Cottage.
The statue was unveiled in 2011, and received heavy backlash from Fulham fans, before the statue was removed by the club’s new owners two years later.
The BEST
Cristiano Ronaldo 2.0
Seven months after Ronaldo’s infamous first statue went bust, artist Emanuel Santos had a go commemorating the newly-named Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport in Madeira.
Safe to say 2.0 was a massive upgrade.
Booby Moore
Bobby Moore captained England to its only FIFA World Cup and received a fitting tribute out the front of the iconic Wembley Stadium, with this remarkable 6.1 metre statue.
Jack Walker
‘Blackburn’s greatest supporter’ bought his beloved Blackburn in 1991 and guided the club from relegation to a historic Premier League title win four years later.
The Jack Walker Memorial Garden was constructed at the Blackburn end of Ewood park with Walker’s statue front and centre.
Thierry Henry
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry’s was immortalised out the front of Emirates Stadium with a bronze statue which left the Frenchman in tears at the unveiling.
