the golden foot of Lionel Messi....

In olden days, when the person conveying good news to the King would be rewarded with gold; down South ~ for good deed done, they would say that ‘the finger requires to be rewarded with a gold ring’………….this for sure  is much more than all that…

He is no ordinary man – most popular sportsperson……more popular than  Sehwag, Sachin, Dhoni – Cricket is a religion in India, but outside, Soccer is more popular.  In March 2010, France Football ranked him at the top of its list of the world's richest footballers, ahead of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, with £29.6 million (€33 million) in combined income from salaries, bonuses and off-field earnings. In December 2012, FC Barcelona announced signing of  a 5 year contract extension which will keep him at FC Barcelona until 2018 and raising his base salary to €16 million net ($21.2 million), which will make him the highest on-the-pitch earner in soccer.

He has won most FIFA Ballon d'Or awards: 4; he holds the Guinness World Records title for the most goals in a year: 91 goals.  Before naming him [or perhaps you know him by now] – in FIFA – there is the ‘Golden Boot or Golden Shoe Award’ that  goes to the top goalscorer of the FIFA World Cup. It was introduced at the 1930 FIFA World Cup.  In 1998, it was Davor Suker, 2002 it was Ronaldo; 2006 – Miroslav Klose and in 2010 ‘this time its Africa’ – Thomas Muller.  

Similarly, there is the European Golden Shoe, formerly known as the European Golden Boot, an association football award presented each season to the leading goalscorer in league matches from the top division of every European national league. Since the 1996–97 season, European Sports Media have awarded the Golden Shoe based on a points system that allows players in tougher leagues to win even if they score fewer goals than a player in a weaker league.

In Oct 2012, Lionel Messi received the  Golden Boot after finishing top scorer in Europe last season ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He serves as the captain of his country's national football team. By the age of 21, Messi had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations.  Experts of the game consistently rate him as one amongst the best and one of greatest in the history of the game. His playing style and stature have drawn comparisons to compatriot Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi his "successor".

In 2008 Summer Olympics, Messi got embroiled in a legal tangle as Barelona initially did not agree to release; he joined Argentinan squad later and scored the first goal in a 2–1 victory over Ivory Coast.  In the gold medal match, Messi assisted Di María for the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Nigeria.  In 2010 FIFA WC, Messi and Argentina lost 0–4 againstGermany in the quarter-finals. For the 2010 World Cup, Messi wore the number 10 shirt for the first time in a major tournament.

Now it is not the golden boot award but – he has a golden foot… which is to go under the hammer. A pure gold replica of his left foot was unveiled in Tokyo on Wednesday. The foot, which is valued at $5.25 million, was created by Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka to commemorate the football player’s achievements. The jeweler is quoted as stating that  he cast Messi‘s foot in Spain at the end of 2012. “We loved the sound of making the ‘golden left foot,’ and it being gold, it was our goal to make the project of recreating Messi’s left foot a reality,” said Masakazu Tanaka, president of the company that made the golden artifact. The foot will go on sale on Thursday, with an endorsement from the Leo Messi Foundation, which helps children at risk around the world. Other golden artifacts going on sale are Messi’s golden footprint worth $94,500 and the “Golden Foot Mini,” which is half the size of the actual golden foot, worth $42,000. Part of the proceeds will go to Messi’s foundation, which in turn will go to support children in areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami disaster that hit Japan in March 2011.

The one is news now is a solid gold replica of footballer Lionel Messi's left foot, complete with blood vessels and the swirls of skin on the bottom of the toes weighing 25-kilogramme (55-pound)

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

7^th March 2013.