Cristiano Ronaldo Welcomes Former Soccer Player with ALS to the Bernabeu

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by Wendy Henderson |

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Real Madrid and Portugal international soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo, proves his worth off the pitch as well as on it as he welcomed a former soccer player who has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to watch a game at the Bernabeu stadium in Madrid (in Ronaldo’s private box, no less) as shown in this Real Madrid video.

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Fernando Ricksen is a 40-year-old former Dutch international soccer player who at the height of his career played for the Glasgow Rangers from 2000 to 2006. In 2013, Ricksen was diagnosed with ALS. He was invited to attend a Real Madrid game by Cristiano Ronaldo and his agent Jorge Mendes.

Ricksen visited the Bernabeu stadium last week with his wife and daughter to see Real Madrid beat Polish side Legia Warsaw 5–1 in a Champions League game. In addition, Ronaldo and Mendes also invited the widow of former Italian soccer player Stefano Borgonovo who died from complications with ALS in 2013 at the age of 49. Find out more about the story here.

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