The arrogant threat from the best player in the world

There are only two responses to a monster as sacred and profane as Cristiano Ronaldo. Unconcealed admiration, as so many lovers of football, women and children admirers have for him. Or surrender, as those who reject him for his style, arrogance and exhibitionism but admit he is currently the best player in the world, a unique combination of skill, strength and an overwhelming will to win. Watching him play in a Spanish stadium is a sight that may not be repeated even in the World Cup when he will be defending the Portuguese team that he heroically led to the finals. In front of a public that is still culturally immersed in the tradition of bullfighting, Ronaldo has raised his qualities to the maximum. He seems to have the grace and lithe movements of a matador and, at the same time, the brute but intelligent strength of the bull. The fact that he is the best looking and best paid player, with the biggest advertising contracts in the world, does not detract in any way from the star´s glorified image.

“Messi is a genius. Cris is a machine,” said Brazilian footballer Kaká who played with him in Real Madrid until 2013. “He does 3,000 push-ups a day,” said his cousin Nuno Viveiros. “He is one of the greatest icons of fashion and is copied by men, women, children and gays, and also sells his products to all of them,” said Miguel Siero, the hairdresser who creates the hair styles that stand up to the goals Ronaldo nods in with his head and the eternally arched eyebrows. Ronaldo has worked resolutely, methodically and viscerally for 18 years to reach and remain at this peak. He is the youngest son of a poor family of four brothers and sisters and his name was inspired by the American president Ronald Reagan. He began playing as a precocious nine-year old when he was in the Andorinha club of Madeira, a captivating Portuguese island in the Atlantic. His father was on the backroom staff of this minor team before switching to a bigger local club, Nacional. Ronaldo was called Abelhinha (“little bee”) due to his speed on the pitch and took off dramatically.

Aurélio Pereira, then a scout for Sporting Lisbon, recalled the first time he saw the “little bee”. “We had heard about a boy from Madeira who was fantastic but we could not sign him because we only took on boys who were at least 15. However, we managed to get Cristiano to do a trial. When that 11-year-old boy began to play, the other boys looked as if a UFO had fallen into the middle of the pitch. He was crafty, kicked with both feet and was quick.” He was signed the following day, with a prophetic recommendation: “An unequalled talent. He is outstanding in his ability to dribble while moving or still”.

It was at this time that Ronaldo´s father, José Aveiro, began to show the first really serious signs of alcoholism. He had been called up for the final stage of Portugal´s colonial wars in Africa and started drinking when he returned from Angola to Madeira. He began to beat his wife, Dolores, who became the anchor mother, the figure who provides and encourages, so often found in the lives of successful players. Aveiro refused any kind of help from his son who was already rich and famous and died of liver problems in 2005. Cristiano was given the news of his father´s death by Luiz Felipe Scolari, the current Brazilian team manager, a few hours before a game between Portugal and Russia. Scolari was in the third of his six years as manager of the Portuguese team at that time. Ronaldo´s oldest brother, Hugo, was heading in the same direction as his father but accepted Ronaldo´s offers of help and was admitted twice for treatment. Now he runs the CR7 Museum in Funchal that was opened in December where he carefully looks after the imposing wax statue of his famous brother.

The creator of the creature

Spanish hairdresser Miguel Siero is constantly reinventing
Cristiano Ronaldo´s hair styles which are cloned globally. He also touches up those famous eyebrows

Do you know you could become rich in Brazil where boys and not so young boys copy Ronaldo´s sideburns?
It is not only in Brazil. He is one of the most imitated fashion icons all over the world. Football is not only made by goals. It is a sport that sets trends as boys imitate their idols.

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Does he suggest the styles?
He also does that. The most important point is that I always create styles that can be used in three ways. Obviously they also remain perfect on and off the field.

What was the most famous style you created for him?
Sideburns with a V design on his head, just above the ears. I did it for the game between Real Madrid and Barcelona and was inspired by some virtual warriors I saw on the Internet who believe this symbol brings calm during combat. Cristiano scored two goals and the media impact was incredible.

DOING HIS HAIR “Hair is a vehicle of seduction and communication”

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Does your salon fall into uproar when he arrives?
I see Cristiano in his house. Every 10 days we do touch ups, plan new volumes and explain the shape of the designs. We have been together for five years.

Does the style influence his success?
I wouldn´t say there is an absolute relation but obviously when he likes what he sees in the mirror, it gives him more confidence in his chances — on the field and in the advertising area. Hair is a vehicle of seduction and communication and Cristiano´s image reflects everything that is most up to date in fashion.

Do you also get the blame for his eyebrows?
Of course. The eyebrows are authentic marks of his face. A good shape, such as the one he has, can give an air of youth, a more penetrating eye.

Ronaldo´s vanity was as precocious as his talent. “He would play with his hair plastered down with soap and his boots polished,” said his godfather, Fernão Sousa. He also had a competitive spirit. “ Many mornings we found Cristiano training on his own in the gym. He wanted to be strong and had to win everything – ping pong, basketball, hockey. If he didn´t win, he would cry and fight,” said the ex-scout Aurélio Pereira.

The transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United was the second big change in his life. It was during his time with the English team that he established the base of his extravagant figure and playing style. “He resolves 70% of the games. He makes unforgettable goals. In the air, taking a free kick or penalty,” said English sports journalist Rob Hughes, a columnist for the New York Times. “The problem is this ‘look at me’ attitude which puts off as many people as it attracts. It is a little like Michael Jackson.” Cristiano has made some startling comments to confirm these claims of arrogance such as when he scored a goal with his heel: “I am booed because I am handsome, rich and a great player. It is envy”. Another example was “Your love makes me stronger. Your hate makes me unstoppable”. It must indeed be the case. CR7, as he is known in Europe because of the number on his shirt, earns 21 million Euros a year in salary — the biggest in history. Argentinean Lionel Messi earns 16 million Euros. Besides this, Ronaldo earns 33 million Euros a year in advertising contracts and bonus. He is an almost unbelievable phenomenon in Portugal. “He is the man the Portuguese rarely manage to be: a great professional and in charge of his own life. He contrasts with the common submissive character of this country,” said historian João Sedas of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

Ronaldo treats his face and body as assets and works of art. Acne is combatted with acids and disguised with sun protector with a toning base. The teeth shine with almost supernatural whitening. His body hair is removed with wax. He is 1.85 meters tall and weighs 84 kilos and has the kind of muscle shape only seen in bodybuilders. “You don´t see players with arms as defined as his. You need to be very vain to achieve such as defined muscle separation,” said Bráulio França, president of the Brazilian Confederation of Bodybuilders. “Often when we are at his place, preparing a barbecue by the swimming pool, he is there but working out on an ergometric bicycle,” said his cousin Nuno Viveiros. “He is the first to arrive for training and goes to the gym 30 or 45 minutes before everybody else. He spends the day training and goes to the ice bath box when most players go home. As he invests in his body, he knows that muscle recovery is essential to maintain his strength,” said Kaká. With this in mind, Ronaldo bought a cryotherapy chamber which cost 35,000 Euros for his mansion in Madrid last year. He spends a few minutes in the chamber three times a week submitting his body to temperatures as low as minus 120 degrees. “The cryotherapy regenerates muscles, reduces inflammations and even eases acne,” said Aurora Heredia, owner of the beauty clinic in Pozuelo de Alarcón, the chic district of Madrid where Cristiano bought the equipment.

The ideal of Olympic perfection was completed four years ago when Ronaldo started dating Russian model Irina Shayk who is loved by the creators of lingerie advertising campaigns but less so by the Aveiro family. “She is not the woman for him. We are warm people. She is a cold fish. She doesn´t want to leave New York, where she lives, and move to Madrid. When Cristiano was hurt, ask if she went to look after him. She didn´t,” said someone in the circle. Ronaldo´s relationship with the Russian began a few months after he acknowledged paternity of Cristiano Ronaldo Júnior, Cristianinho, and announced that: 1) he would not reveal the name of the boy´s mother; and 2) he had successfully obtained complete custody of the child. One of his relatives told VEJA that Cristianinho was the result of a brief affair with a Mexican woman based in the United States who won a fortune by surrendering her right in an American court to have the custody of the boy. “Our mother looks after him,” said Elma Aveiro, Ronaldo´s agreeable older sister who has a shop called CR7 (what else) in Madeira. She sells clothes, accessories and rosaries bearing Ronaldo´s picture. Another sister, Kátia, a singer who called herself Ronalda at the beginning of her career, has just been eliminated from the Spanish reality show Supervivientes. Not a day passed when one of the other participants did not claim that she was only there because of her relationship to him.

Ronaldo is recovering from an injury to his left leg, vital ahead of the European Champions League final on May 24, and has temporarily abandoned the Madrid night spots. (The Gabana will never forget his arrivals in the VIP room.) He has barely been seen outside his house in the La Finca condominium where he lives with Cristianinho, a driver/bodyguard and two employees. His mother lives in a condominium which is only a five minute drive away. His house is valued at seven million Euros, has a cinema, two swimming pools and five suites. The toys in the garage are a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Maserati and a Bentley. Some people say that there are more than 10 cars in total. “He would like to have a motorbike but the contract with Real does not allow it,” said his cousin. Cristiano still has luxury homes in Gerês, Portugal, Manchester, England, and Funchal. “I work a lot with products for the house from Hermès. I also use big armchairs, carpets made with wool and silk and blankets made with mohair, a very fine silk-like fabric made from the hair of angora goats, as well as candles and lamps from Murano,” said Paula Brito who decorates Ronaldo´s houses.

Ronaldo’s more reclusive behavior emerged in an episode in which the Brazilian Andressa Urach from Rio Grande do Sul state said she spent a night with him in 2013. “He is the best, sexually speaking, and I will try to interview him in the World Cup. I am a professional,” said Andressa who is part of a television program team. Ronaldo knows this kind of world very well. His first girlfriend in 2006 was a television presenter called Merche Romero who has a program in Portugal. “Dating him requires a lot of self-sacrifice. I was having a glass of wine or watching TV and he was playing with a ball all the time,” said Merche.

The Portuguese team is not among the favorites to win the World Cup but there is no player who does not tremble a little at the possibility of facing the best in the world at the height of his form and fame. Ronaldo will have his favorite dish, cod à bras style, prepared by chef Hélio Loureiro. However his family is fearful about the prospect of Brazil although not from the football team. “We are not going to the World Cup because we are scared of violence. I went to Fortaleza once and I was horrified,” said his sister Elma, who is a follower of the cult of the African goddess Iemanjá and the Catholic patroness of Brazil, Nossa Senhora Aparecida, whose image she carries in a pendant she says was given to her by Brazilian friends. The question now is who will Brazil´s pagan goddess and national patroness, the mother of Jesus, protect?

WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ALEXANDRE SALVADOR,
MARILIA LEONI, TAÍSA SZABATURA AND THAÍS BOTELHO

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