Dubai: Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo’s haircut — featuring zig-zag patterns on either side of his head — was the talk of town during his side’s World Cup game against the United States earlier this week.
Many tweeps on Twitter said that the style-conscious icon had had a serious lapse in fashion judgement. However, hairstylist Jason Culala tweeted from Toronto saying that even this seemingly strange look would gain supporters: “It’s official... Zorro line-ups all kinds for the next few weeks... #ronaldo.”
However, reports also emerged that there was a humanitarian reason for Ronaldo’s eye-catching appearance.. The website Usatoday.com reported that the Real Madrid forward was expressing solidarity with 10-month-old Eric Ortiz Cruz from Spain, who suffers from cortical dysplasia.
This a disease in the nervous system, which can cause up to 30 seizures a day. Ronaldo offered to pay for the surgery of the boy, the website reported.
@SAMWAHD1 retweeted from @FootballFact101 a picture of the hospitalised baby and wrote: “Cristiano Ronaldo will pay for the surgery of 10-month-old Erik Ortiz Cruz, who is suffering from a brain disorder.”
Tweep @naptimedoe posted: “Ronaldo cut his hair to match the scar of a young fan who had surgery to remove a brain tumour last week #respect.”
But then Cruz’s mother took to the Facebook page dedicated to her son to clear a few facts.
She posted: “I’ve already seen that social networking is spreading the rumour that Cristiano Ronaldo has had a haircut in honour of the scar that has remained [on] Erik. My son has not been operated on. Cristiano Ronaldo at the time had said he would pay part for the cost of operating on my son ... thankfully still that day [for surgery] has not come, yet.”
On Wednesday, @FIFAWorldCupTM published photos of Ronaldo’s newest hairdo — a Mohawk. As of now, Ronaldo has not commented on the speculation.
— The writer is an intern with the Readers Desk of Gulf News