03 July,2015 08:33 AM IST | | AFP
An Indonesian teenager who was found alive wearing a Portugal shirt with the name of Cristiano Ronaldo on the back after the devastating tsunami of December 2004 has signed for Sporting Lisbon
Martunis receiving a jersey from then Sporting Lisbon player Cristiano Ronaldo. Pics courtesy martunis' facebook account
Lisbon: An Indonesian teenager who was found alive wearing a Portugal shirt with the name of Cristiano Ronaldo on the back after the devastating tsunami of December 2004 has signed for Sporting Lisbon.
Martunis receiving a jersey from then Sporting Lisbon player Cristiano Ronaldo. Pics courtesy martunis' facebook account
Martunis, 17, will join the Sporting academy that reared the talents of Ronaldo at the start of the last decade.
"Martunis is the new recruit for the Sporting academy, where he will live, study and grow as a man and footballer," the club said at an event in Lisbon on Wednesday.
"I am very pleased to be at Sporting, who have granted me my dream," said Martunis.
Martunis was found in the region of Aceh, in the north of the island of Sumatra, three weeks after the tsunami that killed more than 220,000 along the coasts of countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
In 2005, the Portuguese Football Federation paid to bring him to Portgual to allow him to meet Ronaldo, the native of the island of Madeira who joined the Sporting academy as a 12-year-old.
