Cristiano Ronaldo has graced the television screens of soccer supporters for over a decade.
The Portuguese star is well known for his goal scoring exploits, as the man has a knack for finding the back of the net regardless of the environment that he’s performing in.
In addition to this, Ronaldo has a flashy side to his character, where he sometimes demonstrates a subtle flamboyance.
Now you’ll typically see this side of him away from the soccer pitch, as on it he rarely demonstrates the fancy footwork (e.g. stepovers and flicks) that opponents hated to come up against.
However, one area where Ronaldo still loves to show people that he is the man of the moment comes in when we look at his way of celebrating goals that he scores.
Most of the time when Ronaldo finds the back of the net, he peels away from his team mates and heads towards the corner flag to celebrate.
And just before he stops, he does a jump and a subsequent mid-air turn in the opposite direction to face the pitch, after which he lets out a loud “siuuu!” upon landing back on the turf.
But why does he say this particular word?
What could be so special about it?
Well, here’s the explanation…
Ronaldo incorporated the “siu” shout into his celebrations in order to become more connected with the Real Madrid fanbase, of whom he didn’t share the same nationality. The Los Blancos team had a culture of saying “siii” whenever they won a fixture, so Ronaldo took this a step further and introduced it into his celebrations as a way of identifying with the Spanish supporting fans.
This article will now paint the full picture for you.
What is the Ronaldo siu celebration?
Cristiano Ronaldo has a unique way of commemorating the goals that he scores whenever he’s on a soccer pitch.
Normally, you’d see a player wheeling away after a goal and sliding on their knees [LINK] as a way of marking the memorializing the moment.
But not Cristiano.
Well, at least not always.
Ronaldo does sometimes celebrate with traditional knee slides and fist pumps, but he mainly does his trademark run, jump and turn move with the “siuuu!” phrase to top it all off.
Here’s some video footage of what this looks like:
Notice every time when he completes the jump how the fans chime in as well.
The word “siu” can be heard reverberating throughout the stadium!
Reasons why Ronaldo says suiii
Ronaldo didn’t just come up with a random thought to start saying this word every time he scored a goal.
There’s actually a much deeper meaning behind its use, which this article shall now expand upon.
1. Developing a deeper connection with Real Madrid fans
Ronaldo was born and raised in Portugal, as he rose through the soccer ranks of Sporting Lisbon’s academy before he sealed a move to Manchester United in 2003.
Once he excelled in England, Ronaldo moved to ply his trade in Spain for the Spanish giants Real Madrid.
The club is massive and player expectations are astronomically high.
And because Ronaldo always had a dream to play for Real Madrid, he obviously wanted to have a way of connecting with the wider fanbase.
Now, his team already used to say the “siuu” catchphrase whenever they won a competitive fixture.
But Ronaldo wanted to go the extra mile and show how much he loved the club and its fans by establishing a deeper connection with them.
Here’s what he had to say about this in an interview:
“I started to say ‘si’, it’s like ‘yes’, when I was in Real Madrid. When we would win, everyone would say ‘siiiii’ and so I started to say it. I don’t know why, it was natural.”
Source – Soccer.com YouTube channel
So, this way of celebrating was a good way to further assimilate himself with the Spanish supporters of Real Madrid – and their associated culture – who would travel to the stadium to watch the club’s matches on a regular basis.
2. Rallying his team together
For Ronaldo, the “siu” chant is also a very useful way of rallying his team mates and keeping them motivated on the pitch.
The Real Madrid side that he used to play in had already developed a culture of saying the word as a way of recognizing something successful when it comes to on-pitch performance in training or at the stadium.
For example, former Real Madrid left back Marcelo used to shout it whenever he nutmegged someone (i.e. put the soccer ball through an opponent’s legs).
Additionally, former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos shouted “siu” whenever he would manage to score an overhead kick!
Therefore, Ronaldo felt it fitting to use it every time he scored a goal, especially because that was something which would happen quite regularly.
Ronaldo has also referred to the term in the past as “the team’s battle cry” , which adds further credence to this point.
What does siu mean?
Up to this point, we’ve explained why Ronaldo says the “siu” word and expounded on his motivations for using it when celebrating.
However, we haven’t defined the word in a literal sense.
Now, the word “siu” actually means “yes”, as it is derived from the Spanish word “si” which directly translates as “yes” in English.
You know the way an English-speaking person would scream “yesss!” whenever they’ve experienced a positive outcome?
Well, the word “si” is the way in which people from Spain would express their joy.
Ronaldo therefore uses it to express his delight whenever he scores a goal.
When did Ronaldo first say siu?
The first time Ronaldo shouted “siii” was during a pre-season friendly in 2013 against Chelsea, which took place at Miami.
Ronaldo said at the time that he never purposefully intended to say the word when he scored, and that it just came out of his mouth in a natural way.
Since then, he went on to say the “siu” shout much more often, as it became something that Real Madrid supporters were beginning to identify with.
Furthermore, Ronaldo made headlines with a “siu” shout when he won the Ballon d’Or in 2014, after he collected his trophy award on stage.
Closing thoughts
That brings us to the end of this article on why Ronaldo likes to say “siu” nearly every time he scores a goal.
You should now be much more informed about the meaning of the word and understand why it’s used in certain contexts by other soccer players, not just Ronaldo.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then check out more content about Ronaldo as we have blogs on:
- Why Ronaldo is usually called CR7;
- Why Manchester United fans hate Ronaldo;
- Explaining the Ronaldo “facts” meme; and
- Why Ronaldo has so many followers on social media
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