SAN FRANCISCO — What is it with soccer stars and the statues and plaques that honor them?
Why can’t the sculptors get them right — or, for that matter, even come close?
The latest victim of a way-off likeness is Brandi Chastain, the former U.S. Women’s National Team star who was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame Monday night, according to the New York Post.
Chastain’s plaque in the Hall of Fame is…not so great. The former soccer star, who famously scored the game-winning penalty kick against China to give the U.S. team the World Cup and celebrated by tearing off her jersey, is a strikingly beautiful woman.
The plaque makes her look like everyone from actor Mickey Rooney to professional wrestling manager Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, if the reactions on social media are any guide.
Even Chastain seemed nonplussed, according to the Mercury News.
“It’s not the most flattering,” Chastain said. “But it’s nice.”
The whole kerfuffle is reminiscent of the controversy surrounding the statue of Cristiano Ronaldo, whose statue was unveiled at the island of Madeira airport in 2017. Ronaldo, the Real Madrid soccer star, does not look anything like the monstrosity that his statue depicted.
The outcry was so pronounced that the sculptor was commissioned to take another turn. The second result was a much better likeness.
Unlike Ronaldo, though, Chastain won’t get a do-over, according to the Mercury News.
Anthony Savicke, the Vice President of Finance and Administration for the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, told the Mercury News there are no plans to re-do the plaque.
