Dark Savante
01 Jul 2004, 06:42 AM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ma...30/ixfooty.html
'My son should dedicate victory to the people of Madeira'
By Sam Wallace
(Filed: 30/06/2004)
The whitewashed church of Santo Antonio is still the most famous landmark in the modest district to which it gives its name in the north of Madeira's capital city, Funchal. But when the regulars in the small bar opposite the church on the Camino do Ribeirinho settle down to watch Portugal play Holland tonight, the patron saint, Anthony, will find himself second-best to a new local hero.
Stretching out: Ronaldo has moved on from humble roots to earn £20,000 per week at Old Trafford
Instead, all eyes in Santo Antonio will be on a teenager who grew up in a tiny house in the centre of their community and tonight carries the hopes of Portugal in Euro 2004 on his broad shoulders. At 19, it would be too simple to say that Cristiano Ronaldo has come a long way. He has inherited David Beckham's No 7 shirt and right-wing spot at Manchester United and supplanted Luis Figo as the most exciting attacker in the Portugal side.
His £12.25 million move from Sporting Lisbon to United last summer smashed the English transfer record for a teenager and by the end of the season a match-winning performance in the FA Cup final confirmed his status as a regular in Sir Alex Ferguson's side. His famous stepovers have made him a cult favourite at Old Trafford and although he ranks as one of the club's more modest wage earners – just £20,000 a week – he has the promise of greater riches to come.
All of which makes his rapid ascent from a poor background in Madeira more remarkable. Cristiano was the youngest of four children but only his father, Jose Dinis, 50, and sister Elma, 30, still live on the island. His parents split up about 10 years ago and while they are still on good terms, Cristiano's mother, Maria Dolores, his brother Hugo, 29, and second sister Liliana, 26, live with him in Manchester.
The family grew up in a tiny house tucked away on one of the many hills that rise behind the expensive hotels on the Funchal seafront. Jose, who now works for the Santo Antonio local authority, was then a kit-man at Andorinha, the football club where Cristiano's career began at the age of five. Now Jose lives in a big house, with a view of the bay, in the affluent district of Livramento. It was bought for him by his son.
Jose talks by telephone to Cristiano almost every day and pictures of his son in United kit adorn the walls of his living room. His son's profile in Portugal is huge. He advertises a bank and has agreed to be the public face of Madeira at European Union trade fairs. He said: "Cristiano always played a year above his age group. When he played at Andorinha the people loved him and were proud of him. They are proud of him coming from a place like Santo Antonio and going to the biggest football club in the world. Not everyone born in a village like this can play for such a big club. It was in the under-11s that he really shone. Against Camacha, who were then the best team on the island, Cristiano's Nacional side came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2. He scored the second and made the third. He gave his team the belief that they could win. When they lost, he would cry."
Jose has watched his son play at Old Trafford but has no plans to move to Manchester. He can barely watch his son play on television because he becomes so nervous. When Cristiano took his penalty in the shoot-out with England, Jose admitted that he looked away from the television. "I just waited for the crowd to react," he said, "the whole room shouted: `Goal.' "
Last Christmas Ferguson gave Ronaldo two weeks off to visit his family in Madeira, although he will be lucky to get any rest this summer after being selected to represent Portugal's under-20s at the Olympic Games. In the meantime, his father has become the closest the island has to a celebrity resident. Cars toot their horns in recognition as they pass him in the street.
"At United, Cristiano's best friend is Eric Djemba-Djemba," Jose said. "He picks him up for training and drives him around. I've met Ferguson and spoken to him through the Brazilian translator at the club. Ferguson is an exceptional person. My son has a second father in Manchester who looks after him."
By the time Cristiano reached nine, the island's two biggest clubs, Nacional and Maritimo, wanted to sign him. Andorinha's president, Rui Santos, had little say in the decision. The boy's godfather, Fernao Sousa, had a connection with Nacional and Maria Dolores insisted that her son play there or give up football.
In return, Andorinha received two sets of kit for their youngest teams. Santos was philosophical about the loss of his star player. "Nacional just had better resources to develop him as a player and allow him to make that step further," he said.
In the black-and-white stripes of Nacional, Cristiano's reputation as Madeira's best young footballer grew and by the time he was 11, Sporting, one of Portugal's three biggest clubs, offered to take him to their academy. With financial problems, Nacional were in no position to refuse: the price this time was £350, two sets of kit and the waiving of a few small debts.
It was then that life became difficult. At 11, Cristiano was a year younger than the other boys at the academy and was picked on for his Madeira accent. Homesick, he became a "rebel", Santos said. In one dispute at school he threw a chair at a teacher for a perceived slur on his Madeira heritage.
Santos said: "It got to the stage where it was so bad that Sporting were thinking of throwing him out, so it was decided he and his mother should move into an apartment in Lisbon. There was a time during that period when he came back to Madeira for a holiday and didn't want to go back to Lisbon. His godfather had to persuade him.
"By the time he was 16 he had settled down but it was only because of his mother that he stayed at Sporting. I don't think he would have been the footballer he has become if she hadn't gone out to live with him. He loves her very much."
The transfer to United came as a surprise to the people of Madeira, but they also feel short-changed by the £2.25 million deal. Cristiano's original club, Andorinha, should, under Portugal football federation rules, be entitled to a small percentage of that fee – about £70,000. However, they lost a recent ruling in which Sporting and the federation sided against them.
Santos said the club were considering legal action to claim the money, which would pay for a new pitch. One that would be named, naturally, after the island's most famous son. "The most important thing for him to do now is to win Euro 2004 and dedicate the victory to the people of Madeira," Jose said. "To dedicate it to the land he was born in and the people who have supported him."
'My son should dedicate victory to the people of Madeira'
By Sam Wallace
(Filed: 30/06/2004)
The whitewashed church of Santo Antonio is still the most famous landmark in the modest district to which it gives its name in the north of Madeira's capital city, Funchal. But when the regulars in the small bar opposite the church on the Camino do Ribeirinho settle down to watch Portugal play Holland tonight, the patron saint, Anthony, will find himself second-best to a new local hero.
Stretching out: Ronaldo has moved on from humble roots to earn £20,000 per week at Old Trafford
Instead, all eyes in Santo Antonio will be on a teenager who grew up in a tiny house in the centre of their community and tonight carries the hopes of Portugal in Euro 2004 on his broad shoulders. At 19, it would be too simple to say that Cristiano Ronaldo has come a long way. He has inherited David Beckham's No 7 shirt and right-wing spot at Manchester United and supplanted Luis Figo as the most exciting attacker in the Portugal side.
His £12.25 million move from Sporting Lisbon to United last summer smashed the English transfer record for a teenager and by the end of the season a match-winning performance in the FA Cup final confirmed his status as a regular in Sir Alex Ferguson's side. His famous stepovers have made him a cult favourite at Old Trafford and although he ranks as one of the club's more modest wage earners – just £20,000 a week – he has the promise of greater riches to come.
All of which makes his rapid ascent from a poor background in Madeira more remarkable. Cristiano was the youngest of four children but only his father, Jose Dinis, 50, and sister Elma, 30, still live on the island. His parents split up about 10 years ago and while they are still on good terms, Cristiano's mother, Maria Dolores, his brother Hugo, 29, and second sister Liliana, 26, live with him in Manchester.
The family grew up in a tiny house tucked away on one of the many hills that rise behind the expensive hotels on the Funchal seafront. Jose, who now works for the Santo Antonio local authority, was then a kit-man at Andorinha, the football club where Cristiano's career began at the age of five. Now Jose lives in a big house, with a view of the bay, in the affluent district of Livramento. It was bought for him by his son.
Jose talks by telephone to Cristiano almost every day and pictures of his son in United kit adorn the walls of his living room. His son's profile in Portugal is huge. He advertises a bank and has agreed to be the public face of Madeira at European Union trade fairs. He said: "Cristiano always played a year above his age group. When he played at Andorinha the people loved him and were proud of him. They are proud of him coming from a place like Santo Antonio and going to the biggest football club in the world. Not everyone born in a village like this can play for such a big club. It was in the under-11s that he really shone. Against Camacha, who were then the best team on the island, Cristiano's Nacional side came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2. He scored the second and made the third. He gave his team the belief that they could win. When they lost, he would cry."
Jose has watched his son play at Old Trafford but has no plans to move to Manchester. He can barely watch his son play on television because he becomes so nervous. When Cristiano took his penalty in the shoot-out with England, Jose admitted that he looked away from the television. "I just waited for the crowd to react," he said, "the whole room shouted: `Goal.' "
Last Christmas Ferguson gave Ronaldo two weeks off to visit his family in Madeira, although he will be lucky to get any rest this summer after being selected to represent Portugal's under-20s at the Olympic Games. In the meantime, his father has become the closest the island has to a celebrity resident. Cars toot their horns in recognition as they pass him in the street.
"At United, Cristiano's best friend is Eric Djemba-Djemba," Jose said. "He picks him up for training and drives him around. I've met Ferguson and spoken to him through the Brazilian translator at the club. Ferguson is an exceptional person. My son has a second father in Manchester who looks after him."
By the time Cristiano reached nine, the island's two biggest clubs, Nacional and Maritimo, wanted to sign him. Andorinha's president, Rui Santos, had little say in the decision. The boy's godfather, Fernao Sousa, had a connection with Nacional and Maria Dolores insisted that her son play there or give up football.
In return, Andorinha received two sets of kit for their youngest teams. Santos was philosophical about the loss of his star player. "Nacional just had better resources to develop him as a player and allow him to make that step further," he said.
In the black-and-white stripes of Nacional, Cristiano's reputation as Madeira's best young footballer grew and by the time he was 11, Sporting, one of Portugal's three biggest clubs, offered to take him to their academy. With financial problems, Nacional were in no position to refuse: the price this time was £350, two sets of kit and the waiving of a few small debts.
It was then that life became difficult. At 11, Cristiano was a year younger than the other boys at the academy and was picked on for his Madeira accent. Homesick, he became a "rebel", Santos said. In one dispute at school he threw a chair at a teacher for a perceived slur on his Madeira heritage.
Santos said: "It got to the stage where it was so bad that Sporting were thinking of throwing him out, so it was decided he and his mother should move into an apartment in Lisbon. There was a time during that period when he came back to Madeira for a holiday and didn't want to go back to Lisbon. His godfather had to persuade him.
"By the time he was 16 he had settled down but it was only because of his mother that he stayed at Sporting. I don't think he would have been the footballer he has become if she hadn't gone out to live with him. He loves her very much."
The transfer to United came as a surprise to the people of Madeira, but they also feel short-changed by the £2.25 million deal. Cristiano's original club, Andorinha, should, under Portugal football federation rules, be entitled to a small percentage of that fee – about £70,000. However, they lost a recent ruling in which Sporting and the federation sided against them.
Santos said the club were considering legal action to claim the money, which would pay for a new pitch. One that would be named, naturally, after the island's most famous son. "The most important thing for him to do now is to win Euro 2004 and dedicate the victory to the people of Madeira," Jose said. "To dedicate it to the land he was born in and the people who have supported him."