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Hair News - June 2002 |
| Author: Karen Shelton |
|
Date: June 2002 |
Ronaldo's
Hairstyle Getting Popular
By MICHAEL ASTOR
.c
The Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Call it the stubby unicorn look. Call
it a fashion statement. Call it whatever you like.
But when star striker Ronaldo shaved off all his hair except for a
small wedge-shaped patch along the top of his forehead, he started
something of a trend.
In the poor Bento Ribeiro neighborhood on Rio's north side, where
the 25-year-old striker grew up, kids are lining up to have their
heads shaved Ala Ronaldo.
``Since Ronaldo cut his hair this way, I've done more than 50
heads,'' said Lene de Paula, who is charging three reals, or a
little over a dollar, for the haircut at her beauty shop around the
corner from where the star was born.
Thirteen-year-old, Gabriel Oliveira da Souza may have looked less
than pleased with his new haircut but denied he was disappointed.
``It's cool. Ronaldo's my idol,'' he said giggling.
Not everyone's happy with the new look, though.
``God help me!'' 25-year-old cleaning lady Ana Paula Noronha Viera
de Paula replied when asked what she thought of Ronaldo's new do.
``My boyfriend cut his hair like that and I made him shave it all
off!''
When Ronaldo premiered his new look in Brazil's semifinal against
Turkey, Globo TV sports commentator Galvao Bueno said the cut was
``overdoing it.''
On the Web site of the local sports daily Lance, a special page
invites people to click on a selection of hair styles to see if they
can improve on Ronaldo's new look.
With a mere mouse click, fans can see Ronaldo wearing David
Beckham's spiky blond hair, teammate Ronaldinho's wavy curly-locks
or with Nigerian Taribo West's pair of stubby, knotted braids.
Ronaldo haircuts are just the latest outpouring of World Cup mania
sweeping Brazil.
Brazil was slow to get into the spirit for this year's Cup. Maybe it
was the early hours most of the games were played - the earliest
were at 3:30 a.m. local time and the latest came at 8:30 a.m., when
everybody was supposed to be heading to work.
Or maybe it was their disastrous run in the qualifiers where Brazil,
which had only dropped a single qualifying match in their earlier
runs, lost six games and only managed to squeak by Venezuela.
But after Brazil beat England in the quarterfinals the celebrations
started kicking into high-gear.
In the southern city of Porto Alegre, road crews were rushed out in
the middle of the night to paint many of the city's curbs in the
national colors blue, green and yellow.
Sales of soccer shirts and other clothing fashioned out the national
flags took off and now many here believe a record fifth World Cup
title is all but inevitable.
Many bars are planning to stay open all night Saturday so clients
can watch the game well after the sun has come up Sunday morning.
And in Rio de Janeiro, the mayor's office finally got around to
mounting a large-screen TV on the beach, a fixture of earlier Cups,
so beach-goers can watch the championship. |