Sport
Greg Evans
Apr 04, 2018
Getty Images / Emilio Andreoli / Stringer
Around a year ago, a sculpture of football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was unveiled at Madeira airport, Portugal, and it went viral for all the wrong reasons.
Basically, it was awful and barely resembled the Real Madrid and Portugal striker, making him look more like a cartoon character than a dashing athlete.
Social media users were more than happy to mock it by comparing it to everything from Sloth from The Goonies to Max Headroom.
However, people probably forgot that although they were mocking a bad statue, they were also mocking the hard work of sculptor Emanuel Santos.
The Madeira native, which is also the birthplace of Ronaldo, was widely ridiculed for his work, which caused him and his family great distress at the time.
When recounting the incident for a short documentary by B/R Football, Emanuel is moved to tears and admits: "This is hard to talk about. It was too sudden."
What people probably didn't realise is that Emanuel had never created a bust before and his initial efforts were far more accurate, but he was asked to iron out a few wrinkles on the stars face.
With this in mind, and with 12 months to reflect on the events, B/R Football challenged Emanuel to make another bust of Ronaldo and he gladly accepted the task.
Just for old times sake, this is what the original bust looked like.
Picture: FRANCISCO LEONG/AFP/Getty Images
After slaving over his new creation for hours, this is what the updated version of the bust looks like. And we think you'll agree it is 100 times better.
Picture: B/R Football/ YouTube
The new bust has been more warmly received on social media than the original, with many people complimenting Emanuel on his efforts and bravery from tackling the task again.
You can see the full documentary amount Emanuel by B/R Football in the video below which not only serves as a moving story of redemption but also the dangers of viral jokes which mock someone's talents or misfortune.
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