Sculpture resembling Ronaldo sparks interest at World Cup museum

As Saransk welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo to play in a World Cup match, there has been much buzz around a sculpture in the small host city's S.D. Erzia Museum that is said to resemble the Portuguese talisman. The sculpture in question is 'Citizen of Distant Planet of Jupiter', created in 1962 by Russian sculptor Beatrice Sandomirskaya. According to the World Cup organisers' media arm, the sculpture of an alien first gained international fame when a group of Portuguese journalists suggested it looked like Ronaldo. The S.D. Erzia Mordovian Republican Museum of Fine Arts is happy at the number of visitors the sculpture is drawing, even if opinion is polarised over whether it actually looks like Cristiano. And appreciation for Ronaldo has spread from the museum to the streets in Saransk. (Video: SNTV)