Life

Football: Mexican factory churning out Messi, Neymar masks

May 05, 2018
Latex masks of famous football players are displayed at a factory in Jiutepec, Morelos State, Mexico. - AFP
Latex masks of famous football players are displayed at a factory in Jiutepec, Morelos State, Mexico. - AFP



JIUTEPEC - A Mexican factory is churning out rubber Neymars, Messis and Ronaldos ahead of the World Cup, racing to meet demand for life-like masks of a dream team of football giants. An eclectic lineup rounds out the roster of 12 famous football faces being immortalized in latex at the Grupo Rev factory in the city of Jiutepec, in central Mexico: Retired legends Pele, Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane, current stars Luis Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Franck Ribery, and Mexican favorites Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, Hirving "Chucky" Lozano and Jorge Campos. "A lot of people have been asking for our masks because they're planning to go to the World Cup," said Diego Esponda, an executive at the company. "Mexican fans always stand out for putting on the biggest party, and we think these masks are an accessory that's going to get a lot of attention," he said in the factory's design studio. To select the factory's dream team, workers held a World Cup-style "qualifying round" to narrow down an initial field of 20 candidates, said Esponda. They consulted family and friends to decide on the most recognized and popular players. "(Lionel) Messi and (Cristiano) Ronaldo are the most requested. In Mexico, Chicharito is also in high demand," he said. Workers mostly make the masks by hand. First they sculpt the faces in clay, then make a plaster mold, then cast the masks in latex and hand-paint them. "There's very little machinery involved - about 15 percent of the process," said Esponda. The masks are mostly aimed at the Mexican market, but the company has received orders from Spain, France, Sweden and the United States, he said. - AFP


May 05, 2018
197 views
HIGHLIGHTS
Life
3 days ago

Babies made using three people's DNA are born free of hereditary disease

Life
4 days ago

Harry Potter actress Emma Watson banned from driving for speeding

Life
4 days ago

Scientists recover proteins from a 24 million-year-old rhino fossil