How star Ronaldo has taken strength out of tragedy

Losing baby his latest blow | HEARTACHE OF FAMILY FIRST' FOOTBALLER

- MATT ROPER

HE is the talisman of any team he joins, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner who seems to turn everything he touches to gold.

Admired by millions, and with a bank balance and social media following to match his success, to the outside world Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have all the luck anyone would wish for.

Yet tragedy and misfortune have never been far from the sporting superstar.

From being born into an unhappy, impoverished home, to losing some of those he loved most, the Manchester United star might reasonably think he's had worse luck than most.

The difference, according to those who know him, is that rather than let those experiences destroy him he has always used them to his advantage, to become a better, stronger person.

The 37-year-old is now having to deal with perhaps the greatest tragedy of them all - losing a baby.

Poignantly, after he scored a hat-trick in his side's 3-2 victory over Norwich on Saturday he walked off with the ball under his shirt in an apparent tribute to pregnant partner Georgina Rodriguez.

The footballer recently opened up about what his family means to him.

"I have millions and billions but the most important thing is family," he said. "Keep your family healthy and take care of them because this is the most important thing in the world.”

That Cristiano strives to be an even better dad than he is a footballer is no doubt due to his own experiences of growing up with a drunk father who he never had a "normal conversation" with.

The youngest of four children raised in poverty on the Portuguese island of Madeira, the young Cristiano begged for burgers outside McDonald's and had to share one room with his three siblings.

His mum Dolores admitted she tried to have Cristiano aborted because she already had too many mouths to feed.