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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 25 MAY 2014 52 52 Cristiano Ronaldo: made in Madeira An idol in Madrid and in Manchester, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo is much more than that on his native island, Madeira: there, he is a god BEN HAYWARD PORTUGAL'S finest footballer is an ubiquitous presence on the At- lantic island. Like a religious relic, his powerful presence can be felt at full force there. Late last year, the 29-year-old for- ward opened his own museum in the island's capital, Funchal. The space, inaugurated amid much fanfare in December on a Sunday 10 days be- fore Christmas, was seen by some as self-centred, even egotistical. But not on Madeira itself. There, Ronaldo is a source of local pride, and the museum marked a gener- ous gesture from a man who made it to the very top but never forgot his roots. The Museu CR7 was just Cristiano's way of giving something back. "I'm a proud Portuguese and a proud Madeiran," Ronaldo told re- porters that December day. "So it means a lot to me to open this mu- seum here. It's a special day and a way of doing something for my peo- ple." His people. Among them his mother and brother, whose idea it was to create this space in the first place. Some years ago, Ronaldo helped Hugo beat a drug problem by paying for treatment, but he was unable to save his father from alco- holism despite similar and repeated efforts. "I'm thinking about all the people I love," Ronaldo added. "Especially my father. I know he is present now and that he's extremely proud." Dinis Aveiro, Ronaldo's father, died in 2005 from an alcohol-re- lated illness while Ronaldo was at Manchester United, but he played a pivotal part in Cristiano's career. It was the player's father who chose the name Ronaldo (after his favour- ite American actor, Ronald Reagan) and he who took the young Cris- tiano along to local club Andorinha for his first forays out on the foot- ball field. He never looked back. "He was something special from the start," said Ronaldo's very first coach, Francisco Afonso. "He was small but so determined. He was good with both feet and fast, with good technique because he never stopped practising - and he always wanted the ball. Football was every- thing to him and if he couldn't play, he was distraught." Often, that led to tears. "If he didn't get the ball he was very upset," remembers Ricardo, a team-mate who works at the bar next to Andorinha's ground. "And when we lost, he cried." Such was the inf luence of the young Cristiano that in one match, it was his hat-trick that swept An- dorinha to a 3-0 lead at the interval. An injury late in the half, however, meant he had to leave and was cart- ed off to hospital. When Ronaldo returned later, he learned to his hor- ror that in his absence, Andorinha had lost the game 4-3. All of this was taking place up in the mountains, not far from where Ronaldo grew up in a poor neigh- bourhood, Santo Antonio. There, his mother Dolores worked as a cook and his father earned a humble living as a municipal gardener. News travelled of Ronaldo's per- formances, and he was soon spot- ted by Madeira's biggest team, Na- cional. At 12 years old, he was set to sign official terms, but a Madeiran magistrate named Joao Marques de Freitas contacted Sporting scout Aurelio Pereira to discuss a possible trial for Ronaldo on the mainland. "He was very, very small - very slight and fragile," he said. "I got in touch with the man who was in charge of Sporting's scouting and I told him: 'There is a kid who they say is extremely good.' But he said: 'That's very young,' and he told me we couldn't send a boy that young to Lisbon. "So I spoke to Cristiano's mother, who was a very humble and very poor person. And she authorised it. So we got him a return ticket to Lis- bon and Cristiano went with a sign around his neck made of cardboard, with his name on it to identify him- self." Pereira was there to meet him, and he was instantly impressed. Howev- er, those early days proved difficult. "When Ronaldo arrived in Lisbon he was only 12 and had a very hard time," the scout said. "He cried a lot at the beginning. He had left his na- tive land, his family, and came to a distant, large, cosmopolitan city, in a harsh environment. It was hard for him." But he persisted and is now not on- ly Portugal's all-time top goalscorer, but a two-time Ballon d'Or winner and perhaps the finest footballer the country has ever produced. Madeira, an Atlantic archipelago with a population of just 267,000, had never had a player in the Por- tuguese national team before. Now, they boast the country's captain, the very man upon whom a nation's hopes rest at the Brazil 2014 World Cup in June and July. No wonder they are proud. DPA Portugal will be a serious contender led by FIFA World Player of the Year 2013 Cristiano Ronaldo at his best. Photo by Annegret Hilse - dpa Cristiano Ronaldo is an ubiquitous presence on the Atlantic island. Like a religious relic, his powerful presence can be felt at full force there. Photo by picture alliance - dpa Download the MaltaToday App now