Tsunami survivor signs for Sporting Lisbon

BeSoccer 8 years ago 204 |

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Christiano Ronaldo (R) is reunited with Martunis, an Indonesian survivor of the deadly 2004 Aceh tsunami who the Real Madrid star met in 2005 during a mission to assist tsunami victims, in Kuta on June 26, 2013

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, 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 evening.

"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.