Cristiano Ronaldo immortalised at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum

Cristiano Ronaldo immortalised at Madame Tussauds

Two days from the start of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Cristiano Ronaldo the Portugal and Real Madrid football star was added to other famous wax figures of Madame Tussauds in London and Berlin.

A wax replica of the Portuguese football player wearing his national team’s new gear, as he strikes his distinctive pre-free kick pose, is now on display alongside the England international footballers David Beckham and Steven Gerrard.

It took four months and cost 150,000 pounds (181,000 euros) to make the wax figure, needing more than 300 measurements when the Real Madrid winger attended a sitting with the Museum’s sculptors at the Real Madrid training ground back in December, as well as using dozens of photographs to work with.

Although Ronaldo has not seen the finished waxwork, the star striker said he was excited about it. “I can’t wait to personally see the finished work”, he said, quoted by a statement issued by the museum.

The Cristiano Ronaldo waxwork coincides with the start of the upcoming 2010 World Cup and joins a selection of sports stars at the famous museum, which also includes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, cyclist Lance Armstrong, boxer Muhammad Ali, tennis player Andy Murray and rugby champion Jonny Wilkinson.

Despite being thousands of miles away from the stadiums where the games will take place in South Africa, many visitors to Madame Tussauds want to yet see their idols up close.

Liz Edwards, spokesman for the museum had this to say; “The World Cup is one of the biggest events in the sporting calendar so it’s fitting we’re welcoming one of soccer’s most exciting talents to the attraction to mark the occasion. 2010 is definitely a football crazy year here at Madame Tussauds London. We were inundated with requests from the public to include Cristiano Ronaldo and he will now join the attraction hot on the heels of fellow international star, Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, who joined the attraction in February.”

Cristiano Ronaldo is not the first Portuguese to enter the famous museum – José Mourinho, his future coach at Real Madrid, entered the collection in 2005, becoming the first soccer coach to be immortalized in wax.

The exhibition of wax figures from Madame Tussauds in London began over 150 years ago.  Besides London; Madame Tussauds has other museums in Las Vegas, New York, Hollywood, Washington, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hong Kong and Shanghai.