Today is the 37th birthday of Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most famous and best players in football history. He played for the biggest clubs, breaking one record after another. There is probably no one in the world who does not know the name Ronaldo. But in a small place, Ronaldo has always had a special position, unchanged over the years.
Cristiano Ronaldo is (again) a player of Manchester United (England). He also scored many important goals at big clubs such as Real Madrid (Spain) and Juventus (Italy). Those are the places that people often mention when talking about Ronaldo’s success. But Ronaldo’s journey actually started from Madeira (Portugal), the island where he was born.
Although Ronaldo left Madeira 25 years ago, anyone who sets foot on this island can still feel his “presence”. An airport here is named after Ronaldo. Outside is a statue – of course also Ronaldo.
At a museum in Funchal, the capital of Madeira, there is a separate place with small items related to when Ronaldo first joined MU, interspersed with awards from small tournaments that Ronaldo won when he was still young. is a boy in Madeira. There is also a statue with an inscription that says Ronaldo is the best player in the world. There is also a mural, depicting him as “a son of this land.”
In Madeira, Ronaldo’s image is everywhere. In the museum. On the office window. At one stadium, people even made a (pretend) membership card with Ronaldo’s picture and information. On the walls of the Nacional Club’s training ground, where Ronaldo played as a child, there is a quote written by him: “This is where my career began.” Now, this complex is also named after him.
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| Ronaldo once visited the Nacional Football Academy in his hometown. Photo: Instagram. |
Interestingly, many children and teenagers around the world sent letters to Ronaldo, expressing their admiration for his success. But every now and then, there will be a letter from a boy from Madeira, saying that Ronaldo is his inspiration.
A boy wearing a Ronaldo shirt walked past the area where Ronaldo used to live. PThe truth is this: It has been a quarter of a century since Ronaldo left Madeira, but here, he is still a source of motivation for children and teenagers from families with not good conditions. So people still talk about the story that Ronaldo was once a boy who had to wait for leftovers from fast food restaurants to have dinner, worked hard as a street sweeper, and played football just to get a few things in return. workout clothes…
Joao Hugo Vieira, one of the youth coaches at Nacional, who always uses Ronaldo as an example for his students, told Sky Sports : “Even for people who are not related to football, Ronaldo remains an example of hard work, effort and overcoming difficulties.” Vieira knows that it will be difficult to find the next Ronaldo, because “talent like Ronaldo is very rare, and opportunities in Madeira are equally rare.” But he still mentioned Ronaldo because he wanted to “inspire teenagers to overcome difficulties and pursue their own goals.”
