Kolkata/IBNS, Dec. 13 -- Kolkata's towering 70-foot statue of Lionel Messi - set to be virtually inaugurated by the football legend on Saturday - has become a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons.

The moment early images hit social media, users unleashed a flood of jokes, memes and disbelief, questioning how closely the sculpture resembles the Argentine star.

One X user summed up the sentiment bluntly: "I don't know from which angle it looks like Messi."

Another couldn't resist comparing the statue to Kolkata footballer Mehtab Hossain, asking, "Whose statue is this?"

The height of the structure also came under fire, with one user remarking, "How can one of the shortest people have the tallest statue in the world?"

More jokes fol...