Ronaldo to play himself in Iranian movie

Sao Paulo: Ronaldo is set to play himself in an Iranian movie about a Palestine girl who was killed before

realizing her dream of meeting him. Ronaldo has reached a deal to be part of the movie and will start filming as early as September in Lebanon, according to officials at the Brazil-Iran chamber of commerce, which is helping produce the movie. Still without a title, the movie is based on the true story of Alneyrab, a 13-year-old girl who dreamed of meeting the football star when he visited the Middle East in a humanitarian mission in 2005. She was only able to watch her idol pass through along with his entourage, and later was killed in a conflict in the region. Ronaldo`s agent, Fabiano Farah, confirmed to Globo`s Web site that Ronaldo has signed a pre-contract for the movie. The 32-year-old Ronaldo, who is thriving with Corinthians in his comeback from the third serious knee injury of his career, will appear in some scenes that take place in the girl`s dreams, said Farrokh Faradji Chadan, president of the Brazil-Iran chamber of commerce. He is expected to spend only a few days in Lebanon shooting the movie. Chadan would not disclose how much Ronaldo will be paid for taking part in what he called a "humanitarian" production. Chadan said the deal to have Ronaldo participating in the movie, which is expected to be finalized in 2010, was reached in June. One of the movie producers will be Mansur Sohrabpour. Ronaldo has been a goodwill ambassador for the UN Development Program since 2000 and made a trip to Israel and the West Bank in 2005 as part of his campaign against poverty around the world. He was playing for Real Madrid at the time. Ronaldo signed with four-time Brazilian champion Corinthians in December 2008 despite doubts he would ever recover from the knee injury sustained with AC Milan in February of that year. After more than a year sidelined, Ronaldo returned to action in March and has already helped Corinthians win two titles in Brazil, the traditional Sao Paulo state championship and the Brazilian Cup. He has scored six goals in his last four matches. Ronaldo was a member of Brazil`s team that won its fourth World Cup title in 1994 in the United States, and was the team`s top player when it clinched the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Ronaldo, the all-time leading World Cup scorer with 15 goals, has also played for Cruzeiro, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona and Inter Milan. Bureau Report