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.
Nanis 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. Hed 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.
Nanis 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 Ive scored a fantastic goal Ive celebrated it with a
death leap.
Antonia says Nani is still shy, especially when it comes to girls.
He tells her he doesnt have girlfriends, but she said: Hes very
reserved.
He doesnt talk about his life to other people. But of course hes
had a girlfriend.
There is another side to Nani, though. Antonia said: Hes very
playful. Hes always playing jokes. When he phones me he disguises
his voice and says hes someone who knew me many years ago in Cape
Verde. Hes 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: Theyre getting on well.
Having achieved greater calmness in his personal life, the player
now has to settle in England. He said: It wont be easy to get a
place in the Man United line-up but Im ready to fight for my
place.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007360872,00.html