After the talismanic forward guided Argentina to their first World Cup win since 1986 in Mexico, Lionel Messi has been at the centre of discussions to have his face put onto a new 1,000 peso bill, Daily Mail reports.
According to a local newspaper, El Financiero, the Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina is eager to mark the national team’s historic win in Qatar and has been working on ideas since before the epic 4-2 shootout win in the final over France.
Mock-ups of the 1,000 peso note being discussed have since gone viral – with fans eager to see it enter circulation.
While Messi’s grinning face is on one side of the note, this group’s nickname ‘La Scaloneta’ is the wording proposed for the back.
The term has become synonymous with this group since Lionel Scaloni succeeded Jorge Sampaoli back in 2018.
Under Scaloni’s reign, Argentina have gone on to win the 2021 Copa America, the first-ever Finalissima at Wembley Stadium and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
If officials at the bank press on with their plan to release the note – which they believe would become highly collectable for Argentinian civilians – it would not be their first venture of crossing currency with the national team.
They previously issued commemorative coins when Argentina won its first World Cup back in 1978.
Commemorative coins were also produced on the 50th anniversary of the death of Eva Perón, the former First Lady of Argentina.
