Buenos Aires subway station honours Lionel Messi with mural

Messi’s mural on the wall in Jose Fernandez subway station, Buenos Aires, Argentina

A subway station in Buenos Aires, Argentina, inaugurated a mural in honour of Lionel Messi.

Along with the mural that shows Messi in his national team jersey, the subway will also have an exhibition of balls intervened by various artists. A sculpture has also been installed and depending upon which position one looks at it, one can see various scenes from the life of Messi.

The mural is on a wall at the entrance of a dark tunnel in a subway station, namely Jose Hernandez station. One will find other images of Messi in the subway station.

“We convert the Jose Hernandez station line D Subway in an area of homage to the best player in the world," said Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, the current mayor of Buenos Aires, according to Goal.

This is an endeavour to honour Messi, who is commonly known as The Flea. He derived the name from the way he moves on the pitch with the ball sticking to his feet and defenders around the world looking like fools.

From being a dwarf-like boy to the subway walls of Buenos Aires

A mural has also been put up near his school in Rosario, Santa Fe where he was born. Messi had joined the Rosario club Newell’s Old Boys when he was six years old and from that early age had made it clear to everyone that though fragile and dwarf-like, he was no ordinary boy. Newell’s Old Boys youth coach, Adrián Coria who had seen Messi as a 12-year-old says,

"When you saw him you would think: this kid can't play ball. He's a dwarf, he's too fragile, too small. But immediately you'd realise that he was born different, that he was a phenomenon and that he was going to be something impressive.”

His first contract with Barcelona was offered on a paper napkin in the year 2001. From there Messi never had to look back as the club also covered his bills for the hormonal treatment that Messi had to go through.

Already one of the highest paid players in the world, Messi also is a brand ambassador for a couple of brands. And now Buenos Aires pays their tribute to this living legend of football.