It’s no secret that Cristiano Ronaldo spends a great deal of time in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection.

In fact, if you ask his former Manchester United teammates, he would do it naked, in the locker room, with the other chaps around.

When the Ronaldo statue was unveiled in March last year, it was immediately torn apart on social media. For good measure – take a look at this monstrosity.

At least the sculptor, Emanuel Jorge da Silva Santos, was given a second bite at the cherry a year later, and you feel the same should be true for whoever was behind the Mo Salah statue unveiled in Egypt earlier this week.

Here’s Al Jazeera:

Born in Nagrig in northern Egypt, Salah is widely adored in his home country and headed the north African nation’s successful push to qualify for this year’s football World Cup.

But a new bronze statue of the 26-year-old has raised eyebrows across the world for its curiously ill-proportioned body parts, including its abnormally large head.

Made by artist Mai Abdullah, the figurine became a talking point on Twitter shortly after being put on display on Sunday at the World Youth Forum (WYF) in Sharm el-Sheikh, a resort town in Egypt’s northeastern  Sinai Peninsula…

Abdullah, the artist, told Egypt Independent she was inspired to recreate Salah as he was a “symbol of excellence in life for Egypt’s youth”.

In a Facebook post, she also called for critics to act “politely” and with “respect”

OK, so Mai is the woman to blame for this. We shall try and be respectful.

First up, here’s Mo celebrating in his trademark style, which he did with incredible frequency last season:

I mean, I see what the artist was going for, buuuuut…

Oh dear.

It’s like a mixture of Beavis from Beavis and Butthead, Marv from Home Alone, and Dobbie the house elf from the Harry Potter franchise.

In a respectful word, it’s awful.

Still, if Mai Abdullah wants a little respite, she could always point attention towards US soccer great Brandi Chastain’s honorary plaque:

[source:aljazeera]