Estadio Leo Messi: A Argentina Fan's Tribute to the Legend Goes Viral
A die-hard Lionel Messi fan in Argentina has expressed his love to his idol by constructing a football playground in his native, naming it the Estadio Leo Messi.
Located around 1,000 kilometers from Messi's hometown of Rosario, the stadium is just a patch of land with no lights, no pitch-marks and no goal-posts.
It's just a regular playground with an incredible view of the mountains.
The fan who turned out to be an Argentine chef named Francisco Javier Guardiola, just wanted to dedicate a tribute to Messi by building a ground for him and naming it after him.
Check out the video below:
Francisco's daughter posted some images of the location online, captioning them as "My old man built himself a stadium in the middle of the mountains (Mendoza, Argentina) and named it Estadio Leo Messi.
"I need you to see it, please, it's my old man's dream. I think it's a better tribute than the one Barcelona paid him."
Mi viejo se mandó un estadio de fútbol en el medio de la montaña (Mendoza, Argentina) y le puso de nombre "Estadio Leo Messi". Necesito que lo vea por favor es el sueño de mi viejo @IbaiLlanos @Martinpdisalvo @Ieomessiok pic.twitter.com/8Eh7uY0akM
— Maca (@Macaguardiola1) August 24, 2021
"I wanted to pay a small tribute to someone who has given us so much happiness," Francisco Javier Guardiola told Ole, as quoted by Marca.
"He's part of history, not only in football but in art. It was my own simple tribute. It was secret, but my daughter made it go around the world."