{"id":39907,"date":"2025-02-05T22:40:08","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T03:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/?p=39907"},"modified":"2025-02-05T22:40:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T03:40:08","slug":"cristiano-ronaldo-statue-unveiled-in-times-square-in-honor-of-soccer-legends-40th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/cristiano-ronaldo-statue-unveiled-in-times-square-in-honor-of-soccer-legends-40th-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo statue unveiled in Times Square in honor of soccer legend\u2019s 40th birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"

A renowned sculptor unveiled a massive monument in Times Square on Wednesday to honor famed soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo on his 40th birthday \u2014 and his fans celebrated by chanting his legendary catchphrase.<\/p>\n

Sergio Furnari \u2014 known for his terra cotta-and-steel rendition of the iconic New York photograph \u201cLunchtime atop a Skyscraper\u201d \u2014 created the 12-foot-tall bronze sculpture to \u201cimmortalize the essence of Ronaldo not just as a sportsman, but as a cultural icon who has inspired billions around the globe,\u201d according to a press release.
\n\u201cCristiano Ronaldo is more than just a football player; he is a symbol of perseverance, excellence, and global unity that inspired me on the creation of this masterpiece,\u201d Furnari said.
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nThe truck-mounted monument \u2014 painted in green, red and gold \u2014 drew boisterous crowds to the Crossroads of the World, where Portuguese-flag waving fans belted out their favorite player\u2019s trademarked celebration chant of \u201cSiu!\u201d<\/p>\n

the \u201cSiu\u201d celebrates the moment when, after scoring a goal, Ronaldo runs towards the corner flag, makes a high leap with his arms spread wide, and then lands with a powerful stance while shouting \u201cSiiiiiuuuuu,\u201d according to the Portuguese American Journal.<\/p>\n

\u201cFans often chant along, making it a thrilling moment in any match.\u201d<\/p>\n

Videos from Times Square showed Ronaldo faithful banging drums, singing in Spanish and yelling a throaty \u201cSiu!\u201d several times in a row.<\/p>\n

The unveiling is part of a grand Times Square birthday celebration that the press release said will feature sports and entertainment figures.<\/p>\n

This statue comes after the infamously bad bust of Ronaldo that was pulled from a Portuguese airport in 2018, just one year after it was installed.<\/p>\n

The bizarre caricature earned worldwide criticism for failing to capture Ronaldo\u2019s likeness.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo has won numerous awards during his lengthy career, during which he played for Manchester United, Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team in the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo \u2014 who has been ranked as the world\u2019s highest-paid athlete by Forbes in four of the last nine years \u2014 also has more than a billion total followers across his social media platforms.<\/p>\n

He now plays for a Saudi Pro League club called Al Nassr.<\/p>\n

For his part, Furnari hopes his new work provides inspiration \u2014 and maybe spurs the all-time-great Ronaldo to his first World Cup victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A renowned sculptor unveiled a massive monument in Times Square on Wednesday to honor famed soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo on his 40th birthday \u2014 and his fans celebrated by chanting his legendary catchphrase. Sergio Furnari \u2014 known for his terra cotta-and-steel rendition of the iconic New York photograph \u201cLunchtime atop a Skyscraper\u201d \u2014 created the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[251,322,89,323],"class_list":["post-39907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wls-news","tag-251","tag-cristiano","tag-news","tag-world-latin-star"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/CRISTIANO.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39909,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39907\/revisions\/39909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}