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Friday, December 10, 2010

Football superstar Ronaldo: That’s my son in Singapore

By Ewen Boey – December 9th, 2010
It’s official: Brazilian superstar footballer Ronaldo has a son living in Singapore.

The ex-Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid star confirmed via his Twitter account on Wednesday night that he is indeed the biological father of 5-year-old Alexander, who lives with his mother Ms Michele Umezu, 28, in the city-state.
Ms Umezu, who works as a freelance model, had a brief fling with the three-time Fifa World Player of the Year when they met back in Tokyo in 2004. Alexander is believed to be a product of that union.
Ronaldo, who now plays for Brazilian club Corinthians, had said on Monday on his Twitter feed that he had a DNA test to determine whether he was really the father of a five-year-old boy in Singapore.
The 34-year-old striker took the test because Ms Umezu has been trying since 2009 to have him recognised as the father and is demanding child support.
“The test results proved what I showed my feelings when I saw Alex,” Ronaldo tweeted on Wednesday night.
The man once dubbed “The Phenomenon” added, “Alex is my son, the brother of three more beautiful children like him. And I will always be a father to all the pleasures and duties. Welcome.”
The hype began in the middle of this year, when those present at a reception hosted by the Brazilian embassy in Singapore noticed little Alexander, as he bore an uncanny resemblance to the famous football star.
“He’s a carbon copy of Ronaldo,” a guest present that night told The Straits Time on Tuesday.
The child has since been the talk of the 1,300-strong Brazilian community, with Brazilian media and websites running pictures of Ms Umezu, Ronaldo and Alexander.
“We’re all very curious about her, me and my friends. We haven’t seen her but we hope to meet her,” said former sports journalist Flavia du Chenoy Bucey, 24, who moved to Singapore last year and had interviewed Ronaldo’s first wife, Milene Domingues.
It is reported that Ms Umezu first met Ronaldo in Tokyo in 2002 at a party celebrating Brazil’s World Cup triumph. She was then working at a nightclub.
When speaking to the Brazilian media in April, Ms Umezu remained tight-lipped, but said that her son knew who his real father was.
“Sometimes, he wants to see pictures of him. he looks like his father,” she said, referring to Ronaldo, who currently plies his trade with Brazilian club Corinthians.
“When he grows up, he would like to be like his dad,” she added.
This is not the first time Ronaldo has faced trouble in his personal life.
In 2008, the three-time married footballer was involved in a scandal with three transvestite prostitutes whom he met in a nightclub in his home town of Rio de Janeiro.

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