BENGALURU: At an Under-9s football tournament in Bengaluru last weekend, one kid was visibly upset. The coach of his team hadn't allowed him to wear the jersey with 'Ronaldo' on the back. It didn't matter. He stuck one into the net and took off. He nailed the Siu celebration. A few of his teammates did the same thing.
Mohammed Siraj, a World Cup winner with India, frequently does the Siu after picking wickets. Athletes in the NFL have added the Siu to their repertoire in recent seasons.
Novak Djokovic, one of the most recognisable sporting stars on the planet, once hit the Siu after scoring a goal during an impromptu game (that YouTube short, uploaded by tennis.com two years ago, has over 27 lakh views).
To the uninitiated, it is a Cristiano Ronaldo thing. It's how he has celebrated most of his goals in recent years. A small run, jump and pirouette before the guttural roar of 'Si (yes in Spanish)'.
Ever since Ronaldo started doing this, copycat artists, from kids to elite athletes, have emerged. Nothing explains the Ronaldo brand like his celebration. It also clearly captures his mass appeal, the main character energy.
That main character energy finally arrived in Houston on Tuesday morning.
With six minutes on the clock, Ronaldo swept home a first-time finish from close range before being mobbed by his teammates and support staff near the dug-out. Once the moment had passed, he hit the Siu.
It was also a goal with genuine history. It was the first time any man had scored in six World Cups.
"The team," the discerning pundit Thierry Henry had remarked, "needs to score. Not you need to score." In the immediate aftermath of the 1-1 draw against DR Congo, this one observation stood out. Amid all the accusations and the counter-accusations and some narrative-driven comments, it was fairly clear that the 41-year-old had to put his hand up to share part of the blame going around.
On Tuesday, he did something approaching that. Immediately after Portugal had taken the early lead, they had a free-kick in position A1. Ronaldo took ownership of the ball but Nuno Mendes, who was also standing on top of the ball with the captain, was better placed because it favoured the left foot.
He left it — the Uzbek team as well as the crowd had mentally decided that Ronaldo would take it — and Mendes found the right bottom corner with the wall largely in situ to prevent a gap on the left. It was the sort of chess move Javokhir Sindarov, at the ground cheering his country, would have appreciated.
As soon as the PSG defender found the net, Ronaldo pointed to his temple. It was clearly something they had worked on during training sessions. Considering there were accusations around him putting individual milestones over the team's needs, this was evidence that that may not necessarily be the case.
With the debutants leaving space in behind as they were trailing by two, Bruno Fernandes, accused of not passing the ball to Ronaldo in the first match, laid out an inch-perfect one for his famous colleague to finish.
3-0; game, set, match and a collective release after a week of off-field tension, intrigue and drama.
In a tournament dominated by A-list strikers scoring goals, Ronaldo's belated arrival completes the set. Some of the greatest goal-scorers of the 21st century — from Harry Kane to Lionel Messi — had already made a mark, so there was of course extra pressure on him to land a punch of his own.
Now that he has got off the mark, his real challenge begins. The only reason why he continues to play for his national team is his burning desire for their maiden star above the crest of the jersey. Whatever your thoughts on Ronaldo, they actually have the squad to go on that kind of title-challenging run. Their midfield — Vitinha and Joao Neves — was part of the PSG team that won the Champions League. Likewise Mendes. Fernandes is the Premier League's reigning player of the year. Their reserve striker, Goncalo Ramos, was also part of that Champions League-winning PSG side. Ruben Dias, a pillar at the back, has won so many titles at Pep Guardiola's Man City he has probably lost count.
Everywhere you look, there's talent. But talent alone may sometimes not be enough. His greatest rival, Messi, will attest to that. Because the pressure of delivering a maiden World Cup will eat at you morning, noon and night. However, when you are so driven by a singular idea, it may be enough.
For the time being, though, Ronaldo may be the first individual in history to say... Houston, problem solved.
