Even if you don’t know a single thing about soccer, you can’t help but know the name of Lionel Andres Messi, mainly because it’s emblazoned on the back of children’s shirts all over the world. His unrivaled popularity isn’t unjustified: he earned his top ranking by scoring more goals than any other FC Barcelona player ever when he was only 24 years old, and scored 200 goals in La Liga games by the time he was 25, becoming the youngest player ever to do so. In addition to his many personal achievements, he captains the Argentine national team and led them to World Cup victory in 2005.
Messi may not wear diamond earrings like some other flashy football players, but his visage was given a diamond-like treatment worth $85 million. In July 2013, Colombian artist Mauricio Benitez, known by some as “Mr. Bling”, visited Messi and presented him with a massive piece of artwork featuring an image of himself celebrating a goal he had scored two years previous, with the image being composed entirely of Swarovski crystals of various colors.
