By Chris Wright
This here is Jarbas Meneghini, a 46-year-old mechanic from Rio de Janeiro who, for the past 18 years has been using his home as a makeshift workshop to produce hundreds of hand-built replicas of the World Cup trophy (or the Jules Rimet trophy if you submit a special order) to sell to local football fans.
Apparently, most of Jarbas’ sales are done by phone or through his Facebook page, but he sometimes delivers orders to clients by meeting them during games at Rio’s Maracana stadium.
Meneghini first started producing his replicas after seeing Dunga lift the trophy for Brazil at USA ’94 and, while he refuses to disclose exactly how many he has sold over the years, he says he uses a big part of the proceeds this year to fix up his street so it will look nice during the 2014 World Cup.
Jarbas puts the final touches on a replica trophy while a client and his son wait to buy one
Jarbas’ house is definitely easy to pick out
A small replica costs around £7 while the larger version will set you back roughly £14
Jarbas kisses his most prized possession: one of his replica World Cup trophies that was signed by Neymar
(Photos: PA/AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)