Boy is 'Ronaldo lookalike'

AT A reception hosted by the Brazilian embassy in Singapore in the middle of this year, all eyes were on Ms Michele Umezu's child.

The reason was simple. Five-year-old Alexander (above) bore an uncanny resemblance to Brazilian football superstar and three-time Fifa World Player of the Year Ronaldo. 'He's a carbon copy of Ronaldo,' a guest present that night told The Straits Times on Tuesday.

Soon, guests were asking Ms Umezu if it was true that the child's father was the two-time World Cup winner. That has yet to be ascertained, with a paternity suit now before the Brazilian courts.

Ms Umezu, 28, who lives in Singapore, has been the talk of the 1,300-strong Brazilian community since. Brazilian media and websites reporting the paternity check have been running photographs of her with Ronaldo, as well as her and her son.

Housewife Flavia du Chenoy Bucey, 24, who moved to Singapore last year, said she was excited to learn that Ms Umezu was here too.

'We're all very curious about her, me and my friends. We haven't seen her but we hope to meet her,' said the former sports journalist, who has interviewed Ronaldo's first wife Milene Domingues, a Brazilian footballer.