10 years after the first ‘Siuuuu’: how it was born and what produced Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic celebration

His great free-kick goals, spectacular headers and unusual personality are some of the aspects that Cristiano Ronaldo has caught attention for in his great football career. But, Surely, if the most distinctive Portuguese crack was chosen, without a doubt many would choose the mythical SIUUU with which he celebrates every time he converts. A party that, at this stage, has already crossed the barriers of football and is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

On August 7, 2013, a renewed Real Madrid faced Chelsea, in a pre-season duel in the United States. Los Blancos had completed the José Mourinho process after three years and signed Carlo Ancelotti, with the hope of winning the elusive tenth Champions League (the one he later won). That evening, the Spanish team beat the London team 3-1. However, the result is one of the least relevant things remembered from this engagement.

The third goal was scored by Cristiano Ronaldo, who entered the box and beat the centre-backs after a cross from the left. After scoring, he ran to the corner, jumped up and shouted SIUUU into the wind. Some of the Spanish press even speculated that it could be a dedication to Mourinho (who had arrived at Chelsea), with whom there was friction during his last stop in Madrid. Beyond the rumors, it was the start of a party that accompanied CR7 for the rest of his career.

“I don’t know where the celebration comes from, I just scored the goal and said ‘Siu’. It was something natural. Since then I started doing it and I feel like the fans like it. , said CR7 years later in an interview with Soccer.com. “People still don’t know how to say it. It’s like a “yes”, but it’s “Yeah”. It’s like an affirmation of something that has been done,” he explained.

Since that day, Cristiano has scored 480 more goals, split between Real Madrid, Juventus, his return to Manchester United and currently at Al-Nassr. In fact, yesterday El Comandante scored the only goal with which his team beat Al-Shorta and qualified for the Arab Cup final. The celebration, of course, could not be any other.

Over the years, the celebration became something iconic that was no longer just carried out by Cristiano. Players like Rodrygo, his friend Marcelo or the Hungarian Dominik Szoboszlai have been seen doing it. Perhaps the most uncomfortable moment even came for El Bicho during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when Ghana’s Osman Bukari converted Portugal and performed the SIUUU past Cristiano himself. His annoyance was picked up by television cameras around the world.

The ritual and the phrase are already part of football culture. We even see it in the district courts. But also famous celebrities and streamers they took it as part of their strategy to interact with their subscribers.