The work unveiled in Egypt captures Liverpool player’s trademark pose – but not necessarily his likeness

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A statue of Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been unveiled in his home country of Egypt, drawing unfavourable comparisons with the much-ridiculed bust of Ronaldo.

Mo Salah Facts (@MoSalahFacts) This Mo Salah statue is certainly something... 😂🙈 pic.twitter.com/DPE0k9iBlg

The statue unveiled in Sharm el-Sheikh shows Salah, who set a new Premier League goalscoring record last season, in his trademark celebration pose with arms aloft to the crowd.

The forward scored 32 goals in his debut season with Liverpool, won England’s player’s player of the year award and was nominated for Fifa’s world player of the year.

But the likeness of the work by the Egyptian sculptor Mia Abdel Allah has not been quite so acclaimed as the player himself, who had a remarkable season in which he also inspired Egypt to a first World Cup appearance in 28 years.

Observers on social media said the sculpture made Salah look more like the 1970s singers Leo Sayer or Art Garfunkel, with other suggesting it looked more like the character Marv from Home Alone.

Америко (Américo) (@Americo_Martinx) Why does the statue of @MoSalah look more like #ArtGarfunkel? pic.twitter.com/wFd7dNulrC

Whinney 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@bwhinney15) Tbf, mo salah does look like Marv from home alone pic.twitter.com/y0jMWi6aPR

Cöl (@Colette_AFC) looks like Leo Sayer pic.twitter.com/OoECwZK7aA

The statue also reminded many of the controversy over the bust of Ronaldo at Madeira airport which sculptor Emanuel Santos reworked after an outcry that it did not bear a good resemblance to the Portuguese superstar.

Mike (@M1KE_LFC) WTAF?!! Salah statue manages to be worse than last years Ronaldo bust pic.twitter.com/F6k47JmMe1

Abdel Allah said she was inspired to make the statue, which was shown at the World Youth Forum in the Red Sea resort city, by Salah’s gesture of “opening his arms to the fans” after scoring goals.

“I found it is distinguished and executable,” she said, according to the Egypt Independent.

In another interview, she said that she had learned to take criticism with “politeness and respect”. She said that her next project was on its way and she had an exhibition next month.

Additional reporting by Sarah Marsh