Cristiano Ronaldo has finally been given a statue worthy of his quality as India have unveiled a figure of the Manchester United superstar.
The Portugal captain had previously been given a sculpture in his hometown of Madeira which was mocked by many across the football community.
The iconic forward had a 65-stone statue erected in Goa, IndiaTwitter: @MichaelLobo76 The original statue from 2017 was laughed at by manyGetty
According to The Times of India, the new statue is said to have cost £12,000 and weighs a staggering 65-stone.
Goa minister Michael Lobo took to social media platform Twitter to release a statement following the unveiling.
“For the love of football and at the request of our youth we put up Cristiano Ronaldo’s statue in the park to inspire our youngsters to take football to greater heights,” he said.
“It was an honour to inaugurate the beautification of open space, landscaping, garden with foundation and walkway.”
The footballing icon will be pleased to see the outcome of his latest statue
“This is for the first time that the statue of Cristiano Ronaldo has come up in India. This is nothing but to inspire our youth,” he told ANI.
“If you want to take football to another level then this is what young boys and girls will look forward to, taking selfies and looking at the statue and getting inspired to play.”
With that said, the statue has split opinion with some waving black flags in protest to the installation.
Ronaldo’s statue, whilst impressive has brought criticism from some quartersGetty
Critics also said that footballers from their own country should have been honoured instead.
“There are so many great footballers from Calangute like Bruno Coutinho and Yolanda D’Souza, who have brought laurels to India by playing football at international level,” Calangute constituency forum president Premanand Divkar told The Navhind Times.
“Why couldn’t their statues be installed? They are from Calangute. Why the Portuguese footballer’s statue has been installed.”