World News for Students of English

05-01-2022 07:00

Officials unveiled a statue of soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in Goa, India. Soccer was a very popular sport in India, and the idea was to motivate and inspire young people to play soccer and be good at it.

Sadly, some people were not happy about the statue because Goa was a Portuguese colony in the past. Goa became free from Portugal 60 years ago, and many people celebrated the freedom in the streets. Some people thought that it would be a better idea to respect local soccer players, because several of them played in India’s national team.

Ronaldo, who plays for Manchester United, is very popular in all of the world, and there are more statues of him in different countries. Ronaldo was born in 1985 on the Portuguese island of Madeira, and in 2017, officials named the country’s airport after him.

Difficult words: unveil (to officially show something for the first time), motivate (to make someone excited about something or to make someone want to do something) inspire (to make someone feel like he can do something).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.