Cristiano Ronaldo was applauded by an entire room for his heartwarming reaction to a Japanese fan

Cristiano Ronaldo once defended a young fan who tried to speak Portuguese to him.

At Real Madrid, Portuguese international Ronaldo attended a promotional event in Japan where the youngster asked him a series of questions.

Admittedly, he asked questions in Ronaldo’s native language, but stumbled over some of his words.

There were snickers from the crowd as the young lad tried to persevere and this seemed to irritate the former Manchester United star.

He quickly stepped in to defend the boy and asked the audience why they were laughing. “He speaks Portuguese well,” he told them. “They should be happy because he’s trying so hard.”

The crowd, realizing his mistake, immediately began to applaud before he answered her question.

Ronaldo was asked: “You are my favorite player and I want to play alongside you. So how can I become a professional?

The Ballon d’Or winner replied: “Believe in yourself. Work hard and don’t miss any opportunity when it comes.”

Ronaldo was in Japan to promote a skincare product and there was a lottery to decide who could ask him a question during the Q&A session.

The youngster had practiced Portuguese for hours after his name was drawn ahead of the event.

Naturally, he was nervous when his time came to speak – standing next to one of the best football players of all time.

Although he may have stumbled with some of his jargon, Ronaldo smiled and nodded to show he understood.

At the time, the striker had just had his best season at Real Madrid, where he scored 61 times in 54 matches, including 48 times in La Liga.

It would be his best season in front of goal to date – even if his season ended in disappointment.

Real Madrid finished second in the league behind Barcelona, ​​who won the treble that season, and eventually crashed out in the Champions League to Juventus in the semi-finals.

This saw Ronaldo miss out on the Ballon d’Or that year in favor of Lionel Messi, although the Portuguese icon would go on to win the next two editions of the prestigious award in 2016 and 2017.