The bronze statue of the talismanic forward was unveiled on Wednesday by Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Larreta who believes the Barcelona star will reverse his decision. He has lost three successive finals which include two Copa Americas (2015, 2016) and the 2014 World Cup. Messi has only one Olympic gold medal to show for his tryst with the national team. What followed was a huge uproar and a national effort to persuade the 29-year-old to play on. On Sunday after a heartbreaking loss to Chile in the Copa America final, Messi announced the end of his career with the blue and white army.

Source: India Today June 29, 2016 17:03 UTC