Siiiii.
A meme, an annoying catchphrase adopted by irritating YouTubers, an iconic goal celebration.
Pretty much everything Cristiano Ronaldo does causes a worldwide frenzy and his famous ‘Si’ celebration, in which he showcases his staggering athleticism by toweringly jumping into an intimidatingly broad stance and screaming ‘Si’, is no exception.
We’ve seen it done far too many times to count – by mimickers across football and beyond as well as by the Portuguese sensation himself – but where does it come from and what does it actually mean?
When did Cristiano Ronaldo first do his ‘Si’ celebration?
While it feels like a phenomenon that arrived only in recent seasons, it was in fact all the way back in 2013 that Portugal’s all-time top goal-scorer first did it.
Almost a decade ago, the then-Real Madrid man starred in a pre-season friendly against Chelsea, in which his brace helped Los Blancos to a 3-1 victory over the Blues that wrapped up the International Champions Cup.
Following a stunning free-kick for his first (which was celebrated with typical arrogance), Ronaldo headed past Petr Cech for his brace, after which he wheeled away and unleashed what would become one of the most famous and recreated goal celebrations of all time – watch the maiden deployment of the ‘Si’ celebration in the opening seconds of the video above.
What does Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘Si’ celebration mean?
Well, as you might have gathered, it literally means ‘yes’. And, to be honest, there’s not much more to it than that. Explaining its origins back in 2019, Ronaldo said:
“I started to say ‘si’, it’s like ‘yes’, when I was in Real Madrid.
“When we would win,” he continued, “everyone would say ‘siiiii’ and so I started to say it. I don’t know why, it was natural.
“I was in the USA and we played against Chelsea and I don’t know where this is coming from, the celebration. I just scored the goal and it just came out. It was just natural, to be honest.
“Since that, I started to do it more often and I feel like the supporters and the fans see it and they’re like ‘Cristiano, siiiiiiuuuu’,” he said. “I’m like ‘wow! People are reminded of me because of it!’ So it’s good, and I’ll continue doing it like that.”
