700 goals? Undying legacy? GOAT status? Check. Check. And check.
King of celebrations? Also, check.
It has been nine years since Cristiano Ronaldo first did the “Siu”.
And there probably hasn’t been any other celebration that comes close to being as iconic as it is.
With celebrities, athletes, and kids all around the world doing the recognizable air and swivel move, CR7 already had the most well-known one in his bag.
But he has given us a few more since then, with a new one added just this week.
It is pretty rare to see the Portuguese do something other than the Siu, so his one-off celebrations end up becoming newspaper headlines.
These one-offs usually have some story, meaning or context behind them, or some inside joke that justifies why he did it.
Back in 2017, when he still played in Spain for Real Madrid, Ronaldo pulled out his shirt after scoring the 2nd goal in the Clasico against Barcelona.
It was a satirical take on his counterpart, Messi’s celebration from the previous season at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Leo Messi too had held up his shirt to the Madrid supporters after driving Barca to victory in that game.
Another was in 2017, again against Barcelona, when he pulled out his own version of Raul’s shush.
Ronaldo motioned for the home fans to “calm down” in front of a horrified Camp Nou. Barcelona supporters typically did not appreciate the star’s celebration and flung all kinds of taunts at him.
And of course, who can forget the incredible off-the-pitch duel that Atletico Madrid’s manager Diego Simeone and Ronaldo had during the “Cojones” celebrations.
The rival manager had done the celebration during the 2-0 win Atletico had done over Juventus, who Ronaldo now played for.
So of course the forward mimicked him after pulling off an incredible hattrick to win the tie 3-2.
This weekend, the now-Manchester United player pulled out another celebration from his bag.
Coming on as a substitute, Ronaldo scored the winner against Everton just before the halftime whistle, with a shot that fizzed past Jordan Pickford.
He followed this up by running to the counter flag, stopping, turning, closing his eyes and interlocking his hands on his chest. The same sequence was copied by new singing Antony.
So what’s the story behind this?
Ronaldo’s celebration was an inside joke he shared with his teammates.
Cristiano is known for taking care of himself and keeping himself in the best physical condition possible, which inevitably entails many hours of laborious effort on the practice field and in the gym.
It also entails taking breaks when necessary and getting enough sleep to speed up his recuperation; the player has been known to take naps very often.
His celebration at Goodison Park was interestingly a nod to the position in which he falls asleep when travelling with the squad to games, something that his teammates have also seen.
As is expected, this move has already become a phenomenon in the sports world. Not just fans, but young footballers around the world are copying it before we even got a proper explanation for it!
Here’s Benfica U19 player Diego Moreira ding the new Inner Peace celebration after scoring in the UEFA Youth League.
It is quite possible that the prolific goalscorer never brings this celebration out of the bag again, so it’s just another one of the iconic ones to add to the book of Cristiano Ronaldo.