The soccer player sculpture is the largest non-round balloon sculpture in the world. It was constructed with 40,781 non-round balloons. There was no framing, line, glue, or for that matter anything outside of inflated latex balloons. Everything pictured (with the exception of the two designers), including the people, the goal, and the grass, were made from balloons. A total of 44 people worked on this project in a variety of ways. Construction of the sculpture took over 640 man hours. The sculpture stood 25 feet (7.6 meters) tall and was about 80 feet wide. Each of the soccer players was approximately 40 feet (12 meters) tall.

Why "non-round" balloon sculpture?

Balloon sculpture takes on a variety of forms. Most large balloon sculptures these days use round balloons. These sculptures require materials such as string, mono filament line, or some type of framing in order to hold them together. Non-round, or twisty balloons, which are most often thought of as the balloons used to make balloon doggies can be shaped and connected without the use of additional materials.

View a movie clip of the construction from Ripley's Believe it or Not!