If you’re a sculptor it seems there’s no tougher job than delivering an accurate representation of the world’s best footballers.
A new statue of Liverpool star Mo Salah was unveiled in his native Egypt and quickly had football fans on social media in stitches, and even the sculpture’s creator admitted she’s “not happy with it.”
Many have drawn unflattering comparisons to the infamous statue of Cristiano Ronaldo which was designed to honor the Portuguese star back home in Madeira.
Featuring an oversized head and unusually short and skinny legs, the statue depicts Salah in his trademark goal celebration with his arms outstretched.
The sculpture’s artist, Mai Abdel Allah, told Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram online, that she chose Salah for her work because of “the weight his name carries” and his importance “both inside Egypt and abroad.”
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She said that she wanted to “honor” the player by making a statue of him, which was unveiled at the World Youth Forum in Sharm El Sheikh, because he is the pride of Egypt.
Commenting on the criticism that the statue received, Abdel Allah said that she is “not fully satisfied with the end product. Bronze did not do it justice and I had no hand in pouring [the mold] in bronze because bronze can only be poured in specific places in Egypt and sculptors cannot do it on their own.
“I welcome all criticisms this statue received; this is natural because an artist is subjected to a number of tastes but I am personally not happy with the statue’s final product.”
Last season, Salah hit 32 goals for Liverpool to set a new Premier League record for goals scored in a single campaign and helped fire Egypt to its first World Cup in 28 years.
Fans on social media have compared the statue’s likeness to old British singers Leo Sayer and Art Garfunkel, while others have said it looks like Marv Merchants, the fictional villain in the Home Alone films.
Perhaps this statue is also doomed to suffer the same fate as Ronaldo’s, which was destroyed and had to be replaced with a new and improved version.
