A devoted fan of football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has cycled 13,000 kilometres to Saudi Arabia to meet his hero. - Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin
BEIJING: A young man in China cycled for seven months from China to Saudi Arabia to meet his hero, football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 24-year-old man, surnamed Gong, from eastern China’s Anhui province, began his journey from his home on March 18.
He went north to Beijing before going all the way to the west, then entered Kazakhstan from Xinjiang, and passed by another six countries including Georgia, Iran, and Qatar, before arriving at Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh, where his favourite football player is based.
On October 20, Gong met Ronaldo in front of the Al Nassr Football Club, fulfilling a dream he had since he was a child.
Ronaldo, 39, widely known as “C Luo” on the mainland, is an all-time leading goal scorer with more than 900 goals in official matches.
He is also the long-time record holder for the most followers on Instagram, with 640 million.
Gong said he was excited to see his “Brother Luo” in person.
He had the idea of cycling to see his star after Ronaldo cancelled his China trip due to an injury in February.
In all, Gong cycled 13,000 kilometres to see him.
All he carried with him were two 60,000mAh power banks, a tent, cooking utensils, clothes, and some life essentials.
In some countries where food prices were higher, he ate bread. He used translation software to communicate with locals.
In August, he suffered from a high fever in Armenia, and collapsed on the roadside. He was sent to the hospital for free treatment.
Gong said his journey let him make new friends, and made him become more patient and mature.
When he arrived in Saudi Arabia on October 10, Ronaldo was in Europe for a match, but the staff at Al Nassr FC promised to arrange a one-minute fan meeting with his idol.
On October 19, another Chinese fan of Ronaldo’s, nicknamed Apple, treated Gong to watch the match between Al Nassr and Al Shabab, in which Ronaldo also played. It was the first time Gong saw his hero play in real life.
In the “dreamlike” one minute, Gong said Ronaldo shaked his hand, hugged him, and signed an Al Nassr No 7 jersey, and a banner that wrote Gong’s friends’ names and a sentence, “What I dream of is true love and freedom.”
He posted videos of their meeting online, and said: “I have met my hero.”
Gong said his next destination would be Ronaldo’s hometown in Portugal.
“How could you look so calm when he was right in front of you? I would collapse out of excitement and would have kept telling him non-stop how much I love him,” one online observer told Gong.
“My head was completely blank,” Gong replied. - South China Morning Post
