Antonio Rüdiger is trending for carrying the Sierra Leonean 🇸🇱 flag after the final whistle in Wembley Stadium last night, after Real Madrid’s 15th Champions League title victory.

 

Here is why: 

- Antonio Rüdiger was born in Germany to a Sierra Leonean mother. 

- His mother Lily, a Sierra Leonean, fled the Sierra Leone civil war in 1991 and relocated to Germany 🇩🇪. 

- His mother settled in Germany where she met Matthias Rüdiger, his father.

- At age 15, Rüdiger made his first visit to Sierra Leone.  

- Since becoming a professional footballer, Rüdiger has carried out numerous charitable initiatives in Sierra Leone. 

- In January 2022, he set up The Antonio Rudiger Foundation For Sierra Leone 🇸🇱. 

- Through his foundation, he donated more than $100,000 to support the Free Quality Education initiative in Sierra Leone 🇸🇱.

“Proud of my origins in Sierra Leone” — Rüdiger. 

- During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rüdiger sent food to frontline health workers in Sierra Leone and provided 60,000 face masks.

- In 2022, he donated all his earnings from the 2022 World Cup to give life-saving surgery to 11 children suffering from congenital clubfoot in Sierra Leone 🇸🇱.

“I am very connected to my second home” — Rüdiger

- Rüdiger has visited Sierra Leone on many occasions, and he is very proud of his Sierra Leonean roots. 

- He supported Sierra Leone in the 2022 African Cup of Nations. 

Sierra Leone means so much to him 👏

©️®️ The African Dream

#HalaMadrid #UCLfinal #SaloneX #Rüdiger