Cristiano Ronaldo 'Realized I Wasn't Some Creepy Fan,' Says Aussie Olympian

A W-League star still cherishes the only time he met a teenage Cristiano Ronaldo in flesh.

Matildas attacker Lisa De Vanna recently recounted the day she personally introduced herself to Ronaldo in 2004.

De Vanna still vividly remembers that during the said encounter, the young “CR7” felt some kind of relief after learning that she was actually an athlete and not just a “creepy fan.”

"I was lucky enough to meet [Ronaldo] him in 2004 at the Olympic Games,” De Vanna said on Optus Sport's Football Belongs Portugal. “So I went up to the coaches and players and introduced myself in Portuguese, and of course, I went up to Cristiano Ronaldo.”

"I said, ‘I’m Madeiran, I’m from there, I’m Portuguese' and he was actually quite alright after he realized I wasn’t some creepy sort of fan,” she added. “He actually thought, 'okay she’s a player that actually plays for Australia,' so it was quite nice to have that experience with him.”

Reflecting on the unforgettable meeting, De Vanna feels honored to have shared a moment with someone as inspirational as Ronaldo.

"When you have icons like Cristiano Ronaldo and you see how he inspires a nation, more kids want that and want to follow in those footsteps, because that’s the life they want and that’s who they want to be,” the Aussie striker explained. “And that’s all it takes, one person to inspire a nation."

Interestingly, De Vanna and Ronaldo happened to have a lot of things in common--particularly as professional athletes.

Apart from being both 36-year-old, they also enjoyed stellar careers with De Vanna winning the W-League title in 2019, her first domestic league championship. Ronaldo, on the other hand, already has seven domestic league titles to his name.

Aside from their pitch achievements, De Vanna’s mentality also resembles that of Ronaldo’s.

Like the Portuguese icon, De Vanna has never relied on exceptional talent alone. Instead, she has been consistently working on improving her game.

"I'm still this player that comes from this old school generation to this new generation,” the two-time FIFA World Cup All-Star admitted. “I'm still trying to find the balance of it and it can be hard because I still have that old-school mentality, but I still want that new generation for the girls.”

"A lot of what I had was determination, grit, and pure natural talent."