Indonesian tsunami survivor feted in Portugal

Indonesian tsunami survivor feted in Portugal

Agencies, Portugal

When Portugal walks onto the field in Lisbon on Saturday to play Slovakia in a World Cup soccer qualifying match, its captain will be holding the hand of a special guest -- a seven-year-old Indonesian boy who survived alone for 19 days after the Dec. 26 tsunami.

Martunis will hold the Portugal captain's hand -- likely to be Luis Figo if selected -- when the two teams enter the 65,000-seat Stadium of Light arena for the Group 3 match.

"This was a promise we made, that he would meet the players, and they also want to see him," Portuguese federation president Gilberto Madail said as he sat by Martunis and the boy's father at a news conference on Wednesday.

Portugal's Brazilian coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, bought Martunis and his family a house in Indonesia last year on behalf of the team. Now, the Portugal soccer federation is giving them 40,000 euros (US$49,000).

The aid will be officially presented to Martunis before the World Cup qualifier in Lisbon,

"He is going to be there to support Portugal," said Madail.

The money includes funds raised from an auction of jerseys used by Portuguese soccer stars such as Real Madrid's Luis Figo and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, the boy's favorite player, as well as direct donations from the players.

Martunis, who is being accompanied on his trip by a psychologist, arrived in Portugal late on Sunday and will stay in the country until Monday.

He was found on a beach in Banda Aceh, wearing a Portugal soccer shirt, by a film crew. Images of him in the shirt prompted Portuguese soccer officials to invite him to Lisbon.

Martunis survived by drinking puddle water and eating dried noodles after his parents were swept away by the tsunami. He was later reunited with his father and grandfather at a hospital.