Meet the 8-bit artist turning classic footballing moments into pure nostalgia
Ronaldo’s bicycle kick and Maradona’s Hand of God get the video game treatment.
When Cristiano Ronaldo was scoring the mother of all bicycle kicks in the Champions League last week, most were just stopped in wonderment.
Matheus Toscano meanwhile, was preparing to immortalise the moment in an art form of pure nostalgia – 8-bit.
Matheus created 8bit-Football in 2012, recreating iconic moments in footballing history in the style of old-school video games.
The Brazilian lives in Amsterdam and has a full-time job at a bank, but curates 8bit-Football as a hobby – which he was inspired to make after seeing similar recreations of classic movie scenes.
“When I was young I spent hours playing video games with 8-bit graphics, so that brings me a nostalgic feeling,” Matheus told the Press Association. “As a Brazilian, I’ve also been a big fan of football, so I decided to do my own version.”
Happy with the results of his work, Matheus created a Twitter page that now has more than 75,000 followers.
His artwork is both moving and static, and the many footballing moments he has covered include…
1. Roberto Carlos’ classic free kick
5. Zinedine Zidane’s World Cup headbutt
9. Paul Gascoigne’s dentist chair
Matheus says he hopes to improve his animation skills so he can bring more of his artwork to life.
“Apart from that, it would be nice to increase the collaborations with clubs in social media,” he added. “It’s nice to see that they see value in it.
“Finally, maybe at some point I would like to provide a set of art where developers can download for free to build their own games.”
If you would like to keep up to date with Matheus and his 8-bit artwork, check out his website, Twitter page and YouTube channel.
