THE NAINGGOLAN TWINS
Riana arrived at the club: there was no women’s team in Antwerp at the so far away from his mother and Riana. But he was utterly determined to make his way in football and knew Piacenza could be the springboard time. “She was a left-back with a volatile temperament,” laughs the for his ascent into Serie A. That would compensate for all the sacrifices AS Roma number four. Radja joined his first club of note when he moved he had made in his difficult life up to that point. However, fate was to at the age of 12 to Germinal Beerschot, founded by a merger in 1999 but deal the aspiring player another heavy blow. Just as his long-held dream no longer in existence today. The turning point came in 2003 when moved to the cusp of coming true with a confirmed move to top flight Radja struck up an acquaintance that was to change his life and allow Cagliari, his mother Lizy died in October 2010 after a long battle with him to realise his biggest childhood dream. The person he met was Alessandro Beltrami, a Swiss FIFA players’ agent from Lugano blessed cancer, a condition she concealed from Riana until the very end. The distressed and shaken twins were now well and truwith the ultimate gift in scouting: the ability to ly on their own. The midfielder is still visibly moved recognise at once whether a young player has what when he recalls the loss of his mother. it takes to make the grade. Beltrami surpassed even himself in the case of the Belgian-Indonesian Determination and courage 15-year-old. He took one look at the lad in the warm“I can remember every word she said. After all the up prior to a match and instantly spotted his potenproblems we had to overcome in the past, I especialtial. He introduced himself after the final whistle, ly regret her not living to witness me actually playand has followed and supported Radja’s career ever ing in the Champions League and for Belgium. Besince. fore she died she charged me with looking after my Alessandro became something like an elder sister and the family, and I don’t want to disappoint brother to Radja. In 2005 he arranged a move to the her. Whenever I play I do it with determination and youth section at Italian second division outfit Piacenza. It was tough for the youngster, who strugcourage, the things she taught us when we were gled to remain upbeat through the long and dank small and were trapped in deeply troubled circumstances. She gave me the determination to fight for winter evenings, but suffered even more from being Radja Nainggolan
“Before my mother died, she charged me with looking after my sister.”
Snapshot Radja and his family take a selfie in the car. T H E F I FA W E E K LY
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