Ronaldo: Grass, grace and grief

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – DECEMBER 18: Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid celebrates 3rd goal during the FIFA Club World Cup final match between Real Madrid and Kashima Antlers at International Stadium Yokohama on December 18, 2016 in Yokohama, Japan. (Photo by Kaz Photography/Getty Images)

Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t born in a manger to a carpenter father and a virgin mother. His father was a soldier who fought in Angola for imperialist Portugal in the 1970s while his mother was a cleaner and cook.

Ronaldo’s father, José Dinis Aveiro, a drunkard, died in 2005 from liver failure. His mother, Dolores Aveiro, recounts in her book, Mother Courage, how she wanted to abort foetus Ronaldo as a result of poverty and her husband’s struggle with alcohol.

She says, “He was drunk almost every day. I never really knew him well. I would have liked him to have been around more. Although he never mistreated his children, I became his victim.”

The seed planted by José in the fertile soil of Dolores sometime in 1984, germinated and came to fruition on February 5, 1985, in the Sao Pedro parish of Funchal, Portugal, and a superstar was born.

At 17, fate came knocking when he joined Sporting Lisbon FC, and fame shone on him when he was invited to the Portuguese national team at 18, and fortune smiled at him when he joined Manchester United before he turned 19.