The 24-year-old Ronaldo fan, surnamed Gong, started off six-month journey on a bicycle from his home in China on March 18 and finally met the star footballer in Saudi Arabia on October 20. According to international media, Gong first went north to Beijing before going all the way to the west. He then made his way into Kazakhstan from Xinjiang. He crossed six other countries including Georgia, Iran, and Qatar to reach Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh, Ronaldo’s current base.

How much he travelled to meet Ronaldo?
The fan covered a distance of 13,000 kilometres on his bicycle and carried two 60,000mAh power banks, a tent, cooking utensils, clothes, and some life essentials. He faced the challenge of communicating with the locals, eating in different countries to suit his pocket where prices vary and the exhaustion of cycling such a long distance.

Gong came up with the idea of cycling all the way to Riyadh after Ronaldo cancelled his trip to China following an injury in February. Upon reaching Riyadh on October 10, he had to wait for a few days to meet his idol since Ronaldo was in Europe at the time.  When he finally got to meet Ronaldo, he says the player shook his hand, hugged him, and signed an Al Nassr No 7 jersey. He also signed a banner with Gong’s friends’ names on it and a sentence, “What I dream of is true love and freedom.” Ronaldo is extremely popular in China and is known as “C Luo” there.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)