Cristiano Ronaldo’s museum on Madeira has upsized to a larger home in anticipation of the Real Madrid star winning “future trophies”, his cousin told AFP yesterday.
The Portugal striker’s self-financed shrine now occupies a prime seafront position in Funchal, the island’s capital where “CR7” was born in 1985. The museum’s new two-storey site “will be able to welcome Ronaldo’s future trophies,” his cousin and museum director Nuno Viveiros said.
The treasure trove charting the success of Madeira’s most famous son draws in 200,000 visitors a year. It boasts two waxworks of the former Manchester United forward whilst a 3.4-metre-high (11 feet) bronze statue he unveiled of himself in December 2014 has been moved to greet visitors at the entrance.
In January the statue was the target of graffiti when it was tagged with the name and shirt number of arch-rival Lionel Messi, hours after the Barcelona superstar saw off Ronaldo to claim a fifth world player of the year award. Among the 160 trophies on display are Ronaldo’s three Ballons d’Or. But one glaring omission is any honour relating to his time on international duty. The 31-year-old, who won a third Champions League title last month, will be hoping to redress that anomaly at Euro 2016 with Portugal opening their Group F campaign against Iceland on June 14.
Irrespective of Ronaldo’s success or not at the European Championships his cousin is confident he will soon be taking delivery of fresh silverware. “After the Euro Ronaldo will be starting a new season with Real,” when he can win more trophies, Viveiros predicted.
Meanwhile, Portugal coach Fernando Santos is counting on Ronaldo to use another impressive season with Real Madrid as a springboard to a strong Euro 2016 campaign. Ronaldo joined his national team in training on Sunday, eight days after scoring the winning penalty against Atletico Madrid for Real to lift the Champions League trophy.
His presence is a boost for Portugal, who lost 1-0 to England in a friendly last week and take on Estonia tomorrow in Lisbon in their final warm-up game. Santos had wanted to give Ronaldo and Real defender Pepe a chance to a catch their breath before they joined the team.
Ronaldo scored 51 goals in 48 games in all competitions for Real this season.
“If he is so important for Real, you can only imagine how significant he is for Portugal. Certainly the same or even more. When you have players that score 50 to 60 goals per season, and who can always score, they are of vital importance. It’s impossible to quantify,” said Santos.
Ronaldo’s fitness is a concern, with tendonitis preventing him from being at his best at the 2014 World Cup when Portugal crashed out in the group stages.
He came close to winning a trophy with Portugal at Euro 2004 but Greece beat them in the final. Portugal reached the semi-finals four years ago but were eliminated by Spain on penalties.