ONE player as stunningly gifted as Cristiano Ronaldo might seem enough for most teams, but Manchester United starlet Nani is being touted as the new Ronny.
It is a tough tag to live up to for the latest Portuguese trickster at Old Trafford.
But if nothing else, £17million Nani is a fighter. As a lad the 20-year-old overcame the devastating disappointment of having his mum
AND dad leaving him.
The Portugal winger — full name Luis Carlos Almeida da Cunha — was brought up in Amadora, near Lisbon.
His parents came from the Cape Verde Islands, a former Portuguese colony off West Africa. He was abandoned by father Domingos when he was five.
A few years later his mother Maria also left, to move to Holland. NaniÂ’s aunt Antonia was left to bring him up in a one-bedroom flat in Lisbon he shared with his three brothers and several cousins.
He was emotionally traumatised by the departure of his parents and would often withdraw into his shell.
Antonia recalls: “He would come home from training at night tired, sometimes on foot because there was no money for him to travel any other way. He’d lie down, with his finger in his mouth, watching TV.
“I would ask him why he was so quiet, but he said everything was OK, that he was within himself.”
The youngster compensated for his tough start in life by playing the game he loved — football.
NaniÂ’s precocious talents took him to local team Real Massama and eventually Sporting Lisbon.
Just like fellow Portugal star Ronaldo, who also suffered poverty, Nani skipped school to play football. Antonia said: “He was only interested in the ball. He missed a lot of classes in order to go and play.
“It made me sad because he was behind with his studies.”
Nani made his debut for Sporting two seasons ago, at the age of 18. He scored nine times in 58 games. He also netted on his debut for Portugal, against Denmark.
The entertainer celebrates his best goals by performing a “death leap”.
Nani learned how to do the spectacular somersaults by taking up an obscure Brazilian cross between martial arts and dancing. He said: “When I was a kid I practised capoeira. I had to leave it but whenever I’ve scored a fantastic goal I’ve celebrated it with a death leap.”
Antonia says Nani is still shy, especially when it comes to girls. He tells her he doesn’t have girlfriends, but she said: “He’s very reserved.
“He doesn’t talk about his life to other people. But of course he’s had a girlfriend.”
There is another side to Nani, though. Antonia said: “He’s very playful. He’s always playing jokes. When he phones me he disguises his voice and says he’s someone who knew me many years ago in Cape Verde. He’s always doing that.”
Thanks to his rise to fame he has been able to buy a comfortable three-bedroom flat in Amadora for Antonia.
Last year Nani went to Cape Verde to meet his father for the first time in 14 years. His mother also returned to Portugal. Antonia said of their reunion: “They’re getting on well.”
Having achieved greater calmness in his personal life, the player now has to settle in England. He said: “It won’t be easy to get a place in the Man United line-up but I’m ready to fight for my place.”
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