Diomande drew Ronaldo's name on fake Man Utd shirt as a child

According to reports, Jan-Diomande is about to join Real Madrid, and countless fans are revisiting the life story of this Ivorian winger's rise from adversity on social media. As a child, he dreamed of becoming Ronaldo, and drew the Portuguese star's name and number 7 on a replica Manchester United jersey.

On the eve of the World Cup, the player who is about to join Real Madrid wrote a heartfelt letter to his late sister Roxane, recalling these past events and expressing his feelings before his first major tournament. This letter, which has been viewed over 8 million times, was published in an English translation by The Players' Tribune.

It begins: "Dear Roxane: Do you remember? Someone gave me a replica Manchester United jersey, and I wrote Ronaldo 7 on the back with a black marker. At that time, we couldn't distinguish between poverty and wealth, we only knew what happiness was.

Do you remember that small room in Abidjan where 25 people squeezed in? Mom wanted to watch soap operas, but everyone else wanted to watch movies. You always remembered me pretending to sleep, then secretly sneaking into the living room at midnight to watch TV, with the volume turned down to the lowest, only two bars. I watched football in the dark, weaving my dreams again and again.

When the adults saw me playing football in the mud, shooting with great power, they nicknamed me 'Roberto Carlos'. But I secretly felt a bit sulky inside, my idol was clearly CR7, do you still remember that?"

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