Not only is Orlando a growing soccer town, it’s the destination for millions of Brazilian tourists. It looks like the recently opened Madam Tussauds location in Orlando is making a more direct play to attraction a few of those tourist dollars by importing a statue of international soccer star Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior.
In celebration of Neymar’s upcoming 24th birthday, Madame Tussauds Orlando has announced the world-famous Brazilian footballer will receive a new wax figure. Neymar will unveil the figure this spring in Barcelona, where he currently plays, and his wax double will travel to its permanent home in Orlando.
Neymar was very involved with the creation of his figure and met with Madame Tussauds artists to have measurements taken in Barcelona. He chose the figure’s pose to reflect his goal celebration from the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, which he called “the most important moment of my career.” He scored four goals for Brazil until he was sidelined by an injury that forced him to miss the rest of the tournament. The figure is outfitted in a Brazilian national team kit donated by the soccer star himself.
“It is truly an honor to have such an important moment of my life captured in wax by the amazing team at Madame Tussauds,” said Neymar. “I cannot wait for my fans all over the world to meet my wax twin in Orlando!”
Madame Tussauds is world-renowned for the creation of detailed and lifelike wax figures that pay homage to A-list celebrities from film and television, sports icons, musicians from all genres, and notable figures from history and pop culture. Each Madame Tussauds figure is truly a work of art, involving teams of professional artists and sculptors who spend months on extensive research and take more than 300 measurements to recreate world-famous icons, to achieve the kind of astonishing realism that has been at the heart of the 250-year Madame Tussauds legacy.