West Bank welcomes soccer star Ronaldo

Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo received a warm welcome in the Palestinian city of Ramallah today, with hundreds of residents jostling to get a glimpse of their hero during a goodwill visit that left even the normally serious Palestinian prime minister grinning like an excited schoolboy.

The stopover by the Real Madrid striker, who was also visiting Israel, brought a welcome escape for a town more used to strife than hosting superstars.

Ronaldo arrived in Ramallah under tight security to a rock star’s welcome. The crowd chanted Ronaldo’s name, and dozens of fans, from young children to grown men, wore yellow Brazil shirts and white Real Madrid shirts with Ronaldo’s No 9.

Throughout the visit, admirers swarmed around Ronaldo, hoping to touch the player or get an autograph. Elite security forces normally assigned to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who was out of the country, accompanied Ronaldo at every stop, pushing back the throngs of fans.

“I am happy to see you joyful and optimistic and I hope the peace process will proceed,” Ronaldo told an ecstatic crowd during a stop at the Palestinian palace of culture, where 1,500 people crammed into a hall built to hold half that number.

Ronaldo said his visit was part of his campaign against poverty around the world. “I hope that the sports movement will be revived in Palestine, and I hope to see a Palestinian soccer team when there will be peace,” he told a news conference.

Ronaldo, who is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme, visited a UN youth centre, played soccer with giggling Palestinian youths, and met with local dignitaries, including Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.

At Qureia’s office, Ronaldo signed soccer balls as the prime minister looked on. The beaming Qureia escorted Ronaldo out of the building before he continued on to the youth centre, where the superstar received yet another boisterous welcome. One young fan triumphantly held up a gold soccer ball after getting it autographed. The hall was renamed after Ronaldo.

“It is an unforgettable moment for me and an unforgettable moment for Palestinian to have someone like Ronaldo visiting here,” said Amani Mahfouth, 20, who triumphantly waved her fist in the air after shaking Ronaldo’s hand.

She said the presence of Ronaldo was far more exciting than the growing list of world leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who have recently visited the city.

“There are a lot of political guests, but normal people are not interested in them,” she said. “We need to be normal ... to have soccer players, artists, singers. Those kinds of people do not visit Palestine. We want them.”

Until a recent ceasefire, Ramallah was the target of periodic Israeli raids during four years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died last November, was confined to his bombed-out compound in the city during the last three years of his life.

Ronaldo was then heading to Israel to participate in a programme that brings young Israeli and Palestinian soccer players together.

The Peres Peace Centre, founded by Vice Premier Shimon Peres to promote co-operation between the two sides, was sponsoring the event.

In March, Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho attended a similar tournament organised by the centre.