An Argentina artist named Maximiliano Bagnasco embodied the coronation of his country’s football team in the World Cup in Qatar, especially the moment when Argentina captain Lionel Messi raised the World Cup trophy while wearing the Arab bisht.
According to the Qatari sports network BN Sport, the mural was painted in a prominent location in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, commemorating the moment Argentina won the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
On Sunday, December 18, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, gifted the bisht (a traditional men’s cloak in the Arab world) to Lionel Messi during the “Tango” coronation ceremony for FIFA World Cup 2022.
Bagnacio said about this mural, in statements to BN Sports, “After the match, I celebrated a little, then I returned to paint this painting.”
He added, “People were telling me: We are waiting for your mural of you, and Messi is carrying the cup … and I consider it a gift from me to the fans.”
He concluded, “The moment we all waited for the cup to win, everyone took to the streets to celebrate despite our many differences. Football is the only thing that unites us as Argentines.”
It is noteworthy that the French newspaper L’Equipe published a report in which it said that the bisht that Messi wore at the moment of lifting the World Cup, sales increased dramatically among the Argentine fans the day after the coronation of the tango dancers.
The snapshot of Messi’s coronation in the Qatari Bisht sparked a state of the controversy, between supporters and opponents through the European media.
Because of that shot, Messi contributed to a huge jump in sales of the Qatari bisht in the stores of the Qatari capital, Doha.
The newspaper pointed out that one of the bisht stores used to sell 8 to 10 pieces per day of this traditional Arab abaya, and these sales rose to 150 copies the day after the coronation of the Argentine national team.
The French newspaper said that the sales included 3 replicas of the “bisht” worn by Lionel Messi, made of Japanese cotton and German gold thread, at a value of approximately 2,000 euros (Rs 1,76,219).
The Tango Dancers won the championship after defeating the French Roosters by penalty kicks, after an exciting match that ended in a draw 3-3 in its original and additional halves as well before the two teams ruled a penalty shootout.
On Sunday, December 18, Doha closed the curtain on the first World Cup in the Arab region and the Middle East, which kicked off on November 20.
