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ArgentineRush among tattoo artists to pay tribute to Lionel Messi
Following the Albiceleste’s triumph in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, many Argentines wanted to immortalize this triumph on their skin.
Artist Esteban Vucinovich is overwhelmed with requests for Lionel Messi and Cup tattoos.
AFP
They have Lionel Messi under their skin. Or rather on the skin: since the coronation of their national football team in Qatar, Argentinians have tattooed the image that has become emblematic of their idol kissing the World Cup trophy.
“The next two weeks, I only have tattoos concerning the World Cup. Some had previously made appointments to get tattoos of snakes or skulls, but changed to Messi or the Cup. I already have two or three meetings a day on my schedule,” Esteban Vucinovich, nicknamed “Tebi Cobra,” told AFP.
According to this tattoo artist from Buenos Aires, the World Cup trophy is the most in demand, followed by Messi of course, but also by goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez who was decisive in the final once morest France in extra time and in the penalty shootout (3-3 ap, 4-2 pens).
“On the skin for eternity”
These supporters are inspired by the examples given by certain Argentine players, freshly crowned world champions, such as Angel Di Maria who has recently sported a World Cup tattoo on his right leg.
“On the skin for eternity. Thank you very much my friend. You said it when we won the Copa America (in 2020). I had kept the other leg for this occasion. It was written. Go Argentina!” wrote Di Maria on her Instagram account in caption of a photo of the tattoo and its author.
“I got a Messi tattoo as a sign of thanks,” civil servant Nicolás Rechanik told AFP. “It represents not only who Messi is but also the team that brought us a third World Cup and all the years of effort to achieve this goal”.
Before having Messi on his left leg wearing the white jersey striped with blue and kissing the Golden Cup, he had already had a tattoo of the other idol of Argentine football, Diego Maradona, crowned world champion in 1986 and died in 2020 “It’s a perfect representation of what Argentine football is and what Argentina is for us,” he summarizes.
Like Nicolás Rechanik, many get tattoos of Messi and the World Cup.
AFP
Failed drawings
Alma Ocampo, a 20-year-old girl who has been playing football since she was a child, decided to get a tattoo when Argentina surprisingly lost their first World Cup match once morest Saudi Arabia (2-1). “When everyone was losing confidence, I said to myself that I would get the Cup tattooed if Argentina won it. So I did it, with the date of December 18, 2022”, that of the third Argentinian world title, she specifies.
Alma Ocampo’s tattoo.
AFP
Ariel Sacchi, a physical education teacher, tattooed a playing card representing five World Cups, as many as those disputed by Messi, with the Argentine superstar in the center kissing the trophy.
“I decided to get a tattoo of Leo (Messi, editor’s note) because he gave all of us Argentines the greatest joy. I think he deserved it (the world title, editor’s note) and following having failed so many times, he finally won it”, But not all tattoos are created equal: on social networks, people make fun of the one who sports a Messi that’s a little too thick or another with a mistake in the name of goalkeeper Emiliano “Dibu” Martinez.
(AFP)