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My Escapes Portugal Another Lovely Trip to Portugal! Lisbon In Lisbon Again The Cristiano Ronaldo Mania [...]
The Cristiano Ronaldo Mania Amid the 2014 World Cup Fever
Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo is venerated like a demigod all across Portugal.
I was stunned by the fact that he was depicted in so many places, even used as an "embellishment". The phenomenon is a wide-spread craze in his home country.
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Portugal boasts with Cristiano Ronaldo...
The stores were full of products depicting him.
Depicted on large posters in shops, bars, on shirts in souvenir shops and even a beer cans reminded us all - he's the top personality of Portugal right now...
Nevertheless, he's a great talent, introduction is not necessary...
Young Portuguese women ("Portu-gals") faint at his sight...
Thing is, during the 2014 World Cup Portugal has put tremendous faith in "pretty boy", but he disappointed terribly during the games.
The talented scorer kicked a single (seemingly obscure) goal during the tournament.
I attended a open-air transmissions of matches, feeling sorry for the anxious Portuguese supporters.
I wished Portugal had performed better, I really admire their traditional dynamism and perseverance... but, disappointments came one after the other and people everywhere were talking about "pretty boy's" poor performance.
At the 2014 World Cup, Portugal lost to Germany with 4-0, tied 2-2 with the USA and only won over Ghana with 2-1.
Unfortunately, Portugal was eliminated at group stage (3rd out of 4 teams).
Amid the agony and public desperation floating everywhere around, it seemed twisted seeing "pretty boy" depicted everywhere as a demigod. It felt tragicomic.
And I was in the middle of everything - witnessing his country's anguish in Portugal.
Depictions of C. Ronaldo were everywhere,... but, if I had to photograph all products and all posters on which he was depicted, I would have run out of gigabytes.
From promotional beer cans to clothing, it was utterly hallucinating.
Not that it bothered me. Not at all. But it was funny, even hilarious.
I do hope Portugal has better luck next time.
View more photos of the Cristiano Ronaldo obsession below...
Sports store at the Vasco da Gama shopping centre
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One of countless huge thick books... gosh, is there really so much to read about him?
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Like an actor from the 1940's black and white movie... Ronaldo makes the ladies faint
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The Jesus Christ Statue in Rio wearing his shirt...
Anyway, the magazine name - "Abola" - not to be confused with ebola! "Abola" means "ball" in Portuguese.
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A soccer fans' shop
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About the Author:
Escape Hunter, the young solo traveler in his early 30's explores the World driven by curiosity, thirst for adventure, deep passion for beauty, love for freedom and diversity.
With a nuanced, even humorous approach to travel, an obsession for art and design, Escape Hunter prefers to travel slowly, in order to learn and "soak up" the local atmosphere...
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As "Escape Hunter" - the curious incognito traveler with an insatiable drive to explore, I embark on slow and deep travels around
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Travel Slang Dictionary
Guide to my personal travel slang vocabulary, which seasons my content...
I had quite a bunch of these...