Lisbon (Portugal): A teenager who was survived the 2004 tsunami and called himself as the adopted son of Cristiano Ronaldo has been signed for Sporting Lisbon academy in Portugal.
The teenager Martunis was playing football when the devastating waves of tsunami hit the beaches of Banda Aceh in Indonesia.
He survived on dried noodles and puddle water after being separated from his family for days.
In the published picture of the teenager, he was in the Portugal jersey which forced Cristiano Ronaldo to fly out to meet him at Indonesia.
Ronaldo, who had begun his career with Sporting, was used to pay for the education of Martunis while the Portugal team had given money to rebuild his destroyed home during tsunami.
The 17-year-old has also been taken the surname of the classic footballer and on his Twitter profile once he was being referred as the adopted child of Ronaldo. In 2005, Martunis was flown over to meet the Portugal team before their match against Slovakia.
He said that his aim was to become a professional footballer and play in Portugal. His another dream is to play for the Portuguese national team.
At the club’s gala, Martunis said that he was really happy to be at sporting. He also added that it was his dream and he was very thankful for providing him that unique opportunity.
The club tweeted a picture of the teenager with the caption:
“Surviving the tsunami in Indonesia. @MartunisCR8 will live and grow in @Sporting_CP Academy. #MartunisSporting”
President Bruno de Carvalho said that Martunis would be at the Academy for working with them.
He has also clarified that the role of the Sporting in the society would be to help people to achieve their life dreams and give people dignity in their lives.
More than 230,000 people were killed in 11 countries by the huge waves of the devastating tsunami developed from a massive underwater earthquake on 26th December 2004.
It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in the records of the history.
Martunis was eight years old when the unfortunate incident occurred in his life.
After being lost his family, he is said to have survived for three weeks on his own before being reunited with his father. His mother and his siblings were died in the calamity.
Video on the adopted son of Cristiano Ronaldo
