Cristiano Ronaldo's new statue turns heads – for all of the wrong reasons

Football star Cristiano Ronaldo is not only known for his fancy footwork but has long been lusted over worldwide for his model-like good looks.

His image is so admired that the Portuguese star earns $32m (£25m) a year from modelling deals for brands such as Nike, Armani and Tag Heuer.

So when a new statue of the 32-year-old was unveiled in his hometown of Madeira, one would not be surprised to hear that the bronze figure made a few heads turn.

Unfortunately for Ronaldo, it was not for the right reasons.

The Real Madrid captain visited the Aeroporto da Madeira for a re-naming ceremony in his honour and saw the statue unveiled. However, many commenters could not help but remark on how the resemblance was rather less than striking.

In fact, so tenuous is the statue's likeness to Ronaldo that some even thought it looked more like former Republic of Ireland captain Niall Quinn.

Ronaldo received the honour after sealing his name in Portuguese legend by leading the country to win the 2016 Uefa European Championship, scoring three goals in the process.

At the statue's unveiling ceremony on Wednesday (29 March), Ronaldo maintained a brave – and straight – face, and tweeted to say he was happy and honoured to have the Aeroporto da Madeira renamed Cristiano Ronaldo Airport.

Others on the social media platform could not help but make light of the situation, however.