Vicenza inaugurates the statue of Paolo Rossi. Irony on social media: “It looks like Altobelli” – Football

Since March 9, Vicenza has a statue dedicated to one of its most beloved heroes. The silhouette of Paolo Rossi. On the day of the 121st year since its foundation, Lanerossi Vicenza inaugurated the statue of a champion that belongs to all of Italy. Top scorer at the Mundial in Spain in 1982, television face in the years before his death on 9 December 2020. A symbol of the national team, but tied in his heart to the city where he played from 1976 to 1979, scoring 60 goals and embodying one of the best memories of the red and white.

The statue, placed in front of the Romeo Menti Stadium in Largo Paolo Rossi, the pedestrian area that has been dedicated to him, portrays him with the red and white shirt number 9, standing while rejoicing. It is life-size, resting on a 64 cm high cylinder, the number of years he was able to live: the sculptor created the work in the Gambellara foundry Dominic Sepeauthor of a criticized statue of Maradona..

Even Rossi’s wife Federica Cappelletti was present at an inauguration that raised, in addition to the emotion and pride of the city, some doubts from those present. Just a small advance of the social comments that would arrive in a few hours. Many testimonials of affection for the players, but also criticisms ranging from satirical to slashing. “Too bad you look like Altobelli” one of the posts, “I’m sorry to say it but it doesn’t look exactly like it”, “I would have preferred a Pablito running to honor his lightning shot, which I had the privilege of seeing in mind and in his short but glorious career” . Increasingly increasing the charge with other interventions, “A champion like that cannot be remembered with a statue of the Hunchback of Notre Dame”, “Excuse the frankness but it is horrible. You need to have imagination to say it is him”, “What a monster, it doesn’t look anything like it.”

An inevitable queue to the umpteenth representation of a champion that divides the spectators, as if the spirit of a sportsman who has been able to excite was not reproducible. In no other form, not even that of a work of art.