In July of last year, a 17-year-old Acehnese boy named Martunis signed to play for the Under-19s team of Sporting Lisbon, one of the most successful football clubs in Portugal.
Martunis’ incredible tale of surviving the 2004 Aceh tsunami and eventually fulfilling his dream of training at the same academy that nurtured his idol, football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, is one of the most uplifting and heartwarming stories to have come out of the devastation of that tsunami, in which at least 100,000 were killed and many went missing in Indonesia, particularly Aceh.
Sports broadcaster ESPN recently released a short video profile on Martunis, which details his unlikely rise from being found stranded on a beach after the tsunami to being invited to play football in Portugal.
The video has proved to be popular, racking up 1 million views at the time of writing. Many commenters wrote that they were inspired by the story and that hey hoped Martunis would have a future as a professional footballer.
In an interview with football magazine FourFourTwo in February, Martunis admitted that he has yet to reach the level required to be able to play competitively for Sporting Lisbon. He also admitted that language and cultural barriers have been an issue during his time in Portugal. However, a Sporting Lisbon official said that Martunis has indeed made progress at their academy, and he stands a chance of one day playing for the first team provided he step up his game.
