Making donation, Ronaldo tells Syrians: Don’t lose your hope

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo reacts during a La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Malaga at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. AP

LONDON— Cristiano Ronaldo expressed his anguish over the plight of children in war-shattered Syria and made a donation to help fund emergency supplies in Aleppo.

The Real Madrid and Portugal star’s “generous donation” will fund food, clothing and medical care for families in Aleppo and across Syria, Save the Children said Friday.

“This is for the children of Syria,” Ronaldo said in a video message posted to his social media accounts Friday. “We know that you have been suffering a lot. I am a very famous player, but you are the true heroes. Don’t lose your hope. The world is with you. We care about you. I am with you.”

Aleppo has witnessed four years of brutal fighting between rebels and government forces until Thursday when opposition fighters left, putting the government in full control for the first time since 2012.

“Cristiano Ronaldo’s generous donation will help us to support children from Aleppo and across Syria, who have suffered things children should never have to live through,” Save the Children director Nick Finney said in a statement.

“We are tremendously grateful for his life-changing support. Ronaldo is not only one of the world’s most iconic sports figures, but he also has become a beacon of hope for millions of boys and girls worldwide — and hope is something that Syria’s children need now more than ever.”

Street fighting and punishing aerial bombardments in Aleppo saw hospitals bombed and tens of thousands of homes and apartments become uninhabitable.