Cristiano Ronaldo, Gabriel Giorgi

Cristiano Ronaldo

Gabriel Giorgi

Adolescence is a strange and scary time, often clouded with stress and anxiety. Everyone has different ways of coping with these struggles, a common one being with sports. I can relate to this personally, as can so many adolescents. One of, if not the most popular sport in the world is soccer, so it is natural that many adolescents would idolise one of the greatest players of all time; Cristiano Ronaldo. He is much more than just one of the greatest soccer players of all time, he is the true definition of a global icon. At the time of this being written, he is the most followed person on Instagram, sitting at 494 million followers. The powerful reach that he has over so many people, especially adolescents cannot be understated. Cristiano Ronaldo was born in Portugal and has been regarded as one of the best players in the world for almost 20 years now. He’s played for some of the biggest teams in the world, namely Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. He has won almost everything there is to win in the sport, being named best player in the world on 5 separate occasions; which is second most in history. One thing that Cristiano Ronaldo is known for is his famous celebration. It can only truly be understood in video form,2 but this celebration can be seen on just about any soccer field that has young people playing on it, accompanied by a loud roar of “SIU”, which is what Ronaldo himself says. It has recently gained extreme popularity thanks to Youtuber iShowSpeed. The Youtuber who is known as ‘Speed’ has a target audience mainly of adolescents, and gained extreme global popularity thanks to his imitation and idolisation of Cristiano Ronaldo, in addition to his own version of the Ronaldo celebration, where he yells “SEWEY”.3 This

2 https://youtube.com/shorts/x6iqX2kFFgg?feature=share 3 https://youtu.be/q2RlKMemSuo

celebration is attached to Ronaldo, and the amount of people who know it is further proof of just how popular he is, especially among young people. Adolescents are often concerned with fitting in, and Cristiano Ronaldo gives people who may not normally interact a commonality. From personal experience, I’ve worn a Ronaldo jersey to school and talked to people who I’ve never spoken to before, simply because of the jersey. Soccer is a universal language that anybody can learn to speak; social status does not affect it either. The most popular soccer player in the world only brings adolescents closer together and gives them something to celebrate and relate to. Ronaldo is also a positive role model for young people. Although he certainly cannot be compared to a parental figure, his incredible work ethic is something that all adolescents can take note of. He constantly strives to be the best and promotes a healthy lifestyle, something that many adolescents tend to struggle with. Ultimately, as an adolescent, Ronaldo is someone who we can strive to be. When you’re having a bad day you can go to the soccer field and have a laugh with your friends and teammates, capped off by doing Ronaldo’s famous celebration as a team. And for a moment, you forget that you’re having a bad day, because you can be Cristiano Ronaldo at that moment. Sources to Learn More About the Topic 1. Cristiano Ronaldo scores a big goal, does his signature celebration, and thousands of fans in the stands can be heard chanting his “SIU” celebration with him. https://youtube.com/shorts/x6iqX2kFFgg?feature=share 2. iShowSpeed scores a goal in a charity match and does Ronaldo’s celebration with the whole stadium joining him in the chant. In the interview at the end, he claims to feel like he was Cristiano Ronaldo, showing the power that the celebration has. https://youtu.be/q2RlKMemSuo 3. Academic Source. Specifically page 48-50 speaks about Cristiano Ronaldo’s perception among Portuguese adolescents. Keep in mind this was written in 2015, so Ronaldo was much younger and had not reached the global heights he has today. He was still one of the biggest names in the world.

Jorge, A. (2015). ‘Cristiano Ronaldo is cheap chic, Twilight actors are special’: young audiences of celebrities, class and locality. Celebrity Studies, 6(1), 39–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2015.995467