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Xtra Time Web Desk : One of the greatest ever footballers to ever grace the field, Cristiano Ronaldo's statue has been recently unveiled in Calangute, Goa in order to inspire the youth of the state to take football to the next level in India.

The statue which weighs around 410 kgs and cost around Rs 12 lakhs was being made since last three years but got delayed to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is being seen as one of the factors to inspire the youth of Goa to take up football professionally.

Talking about the statue in an interview with ANI, Goa minister Michael Lobo said, "This is for the first time that the statue of Cristiano Ronaldo has come up in India. This is nothing but to inspire our youth. If you want to take football to another level, then this is what young boys and girls will look forward to, taking selfies and looking at the statue and getting inspired to play. The government, municipality and the panchayat's job is to provide good infrastructure, good football grounds, good futsal grounds. We need a good infrastructure for our boys and girls to go there and play. The statue is just to inspire. We want good infrastructure from the government. We need coaches who can train our boys and girls. Government should appoint former players as coaches, who played for Goa and made India proud. In this way only, we can move ahead in the field of sports. Being such a big country, we are far behind many countries in terms of football,"

Also talking about certain opposing forces, he further added, "There are some people who have opposed the installation of the statue and I think they are the staunch football haters. They don't consider football as a religion. Football is a game where everyone is equal, irrespective of caste, colour, religion, etc. Still, these people are opposing it with black flags. I can't say anything about them and just want to bow down to them."