Hero's welcome for Ronaldo on visit to poverty-stricken West Bank

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2005

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) — Brazilian and Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo was mobbed by dozens of young Palestinian football fans as he paid a morale-boosting visit to the poverty-stricken West Bank.

The World Cup winning forward, visiting anti-poverty projects in his capacity as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, was handed a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh headscarf by one wheelchair-bound fan as he watched youngsters stage a kickabout at a playground in the town of Ramallah.

"In my name and in the name of the Real Madrid players, I thank you for this reception and I promise you to talk about the Palestinian people when I go back to Brazil," he told reporters on Monday.

Prime minister Ahmed Qorei, who was on hand to greet Ronaldo, thanked him for...