 "Humans of Olympics: Meet Robson Oliveira, the Ronaldinho lookalike with a global audience")
Life in a Rio de Janeiro favela isn’t easy. It is even more difficult if you happen to look like one of the most famous and loved footballers in the world. However, Robson Oliveira has used his resemblance to Ronaldinho Gaucho to his advantage. He has the Fifa World Cup 2014 and the Rio Olympics to thank for the global audience that he has got.
A week before the Olympics started, the Olympics Megastore at the iconic Copacabana beach, also the venue of the beach volleyball games, was up and running. Robson has been hanging outside the store everyday for up to 10 hours dressed in Brazil team colours kicking a football and showing off his ball control to curious onlookers. He hits the ball towards them often, in order to engage with them.
Extremely camera conscious, he helps people capture the perfect frame by intuitively posing or turning at the right moment. A friendly chap, he does most of his interaction with the excited non-Portuguese speaking folks through his football skills. If you happen to be at Copacabana anytime soon, do stop by for a photograph with Ronaldinho Part Deux.
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