If you’ve spent more than five minutes watching IShowSpeed content, you already know the drill: the second a football shows up on screen, Darren “IShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. is on his knees screaming “SIUUUU” like his life depends on it. It’s become one of the internet’s favorite running jokes — except it isn’t really a joke. Speed’s love for Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most genuine, long-running storylines in his entire career, and it didn’t happen overnight.
Here’s how a Cincinnati teenager ended up becoming one of the most famous Ronaldo superfans on the planet — and how their relationship grew into something Ronaldo’s own family now recognizes.
Who Is IShowSpeed, Really?
Before the Ronaldo obsession made headlines, IShowSpeed built his channel on chaotic gaming streams, high-energy reactions, and a personality that’s impossible to look away from. Somewhere along the way, football — and one player in particular — became the emotional center of his content. Fans who’ve followed him for years will tell you: take away the screaming and the memes, and what’s left is someone who genuinely, unironically idolizes Ronaldo the way a kid idolizes their childhood hero.
When Did the Ronaldo Obsession Start?
Speed has talked openly on stream about how his admiration for Ronaldo took root well before he had any real following. Like a lot of fans his age, he grew up watching Ronaldo dominate at Manchester United and Real Madrid, and something about the mentality — the relentless work ethic, the confidence, the celebrations — stuck with him.
There’s also a smaller, funnier detail that fans often bring up: Speed has said a 2018 encounter with Lionel Messi didn’t go the way he hoped, and that experience only pushed him further into Ronaldo’s corner. Whether or not that’s the whole explanation, it’s become part of the lore his community loves to reference.
Years of Trying (and Failing) to Meet Him
This is the part that made the eventual payoff hit so hard. Speed didn’t just casually hope to run into Ronaldo one day — he actively chased the moment for years:
- He showed up to Manchester United matches hoping for a glimpse.
- He traveled to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, only to leave without meeting him.
- He attended Al-Nassr fixtures in Saudi Arabia, still no luck.
Every failed attempt became content, and every failed attempt made his fanbase root for him a little harder. By the time he showed up at Portugal’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Bosnia and Herzegovina in June 2023, most viewers assumed it would be another near-miss.
The Moment It Finally Happened
It wasn’t. After the match, Speed waited in the stadium car park, and when Ronaldo’s car pulled up, everything the internet had watched build for over a year came out at once. Speed dropped to his knees, overwhelmed, and could barely get words out beyond repeating “Oh my god, Ronaldo.” Ronaldo, for his part, helped him up and stayed to take pictures and talk — reportedly mentioning that his son had told him Speed was waiting outside.
Speed also showed Ronaldo his Ronaldo-themed tattoo during the meeting, which only added to how surreal the whole moment felt for fans watching live.
It didn’t stop with Ronaldo himself. Speed also met his sister, Elma Aveiro, at the same event, hugging her and telling her how much the moment meant to him — a scene emotional enough that Aveiro later posted about it herself.
There was even a genuinely funny footnote to the night: earlier on, Speed mistook Portuguese football legend Rui Costa for the President of Portugal and begged him for a photo anyway. Costa, to his credit, went along with it.
More Than Just a Meme
What’s kept this story alive isn’t just the meeting itself — it’s that the relationship didn’t end there. Speed has continued referencing Ronaldo across his streams and travels, and the connection has taken on a genuinely warm-hearted side too. In one notable moment, Speed helped support a fundraising effort for a young Portuguese fan who’d lost his family, personally recording a message letting the boy know Ronaldo would be meeting him — turning Speed’s own fame into something that gave back.
Why This Fan Story Resonates
Plenty of streamers have “bits.” Speed’s Ronaldo obsession never felt like one, and that’s exactly why it’s stuck around. It’s a rare example of internet fandom playing out in real time, with real stakes, real disappointment, and eventually a real payoff that even Ronaldo’s own family reacted to. For a generation that grew up watching Ronaldo highlights on their phones, Speed’s journey to that car park in Lisbon is basically the fan-fantasy version of meeting your hero — documented, unfiltered, and completely real.
So the next time you see Speed drop to the floor screaming at the sight of a Ronaldo celebration, know that it’s not just content. It’s years of chasing a dream that, against the odds, actually came true.