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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barney Ronay

World Cup hero? Even triumph for Messi will not save this compromised spectacle

Lionel Messi drawn as Argentina's own superman
Lionel Messi will be in his fifth World Cup, having reached the 2014 final, but he has not won it yet Illustration: Matthew Green

Buenos Aires has a new Diego Maradona mural for the World Cup. It looks great, although the vast, Stalinist-scale Diego head selected by the artist is not the obvious version from 1986, when the quality of the light, the white noise in the stadiums and the way Maradona moved were basically all one perfect golden sun-drenched substance.

Instead Buenos Aires has gone for the Italia 90 version, with the insolent stare and the deep blue kit, hair trimmed into an idealised barbershop photo-style low bouffant. Maradona still managed to lead Argentina to the final in Italy and to produce that otherworldly artist-as-pickpocket pass to Claudio Caniggia against Brazil.

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