Has a superstar footballer just taught us a lesson about parenting?

His love for his son is beautiful to watch.

I don’t know much about soccer, or football, depending on what you call it. So I can’t tell you much about Cristiano Ronaldo, although I do know he’s a really, really famous player. Probably the most famous on the planet.

I also know that as well as sporting talent, he’s pretty blessed in the looks department and I assume without even Googling his net worth he has a lot of money.

What I don’t know is whether he’s considered the world’s greatest guy or whether people think he’s an arrogant dick. Probably a bit of both.

But what I learned today is he’s a single father to a five year old boy and he’s wholeheartedly confident that is all his little boy needs.

In an intimate new documentary, Ronaldo, the Portuguese superstar reveals his love for his young son, Cristiano Jnr, who he fathered with an unknown woman. The documentary chronicles the soccer player’s desire to be a good father in light of his own broken relationship with his alcoholic dad.

Watch the trailer for Ronaldo’s upcoming film here:

He says: ‘My son does not need a mother, he has me’.

“Some children never get to know their parents, neither mother nor father. Having a father is enough.’

It’s the sort of comment that probably makes people uncomfortable. A lot of people still like to assume children will always need their mothers. And some people still like to think a mother’s love outdoes everything else; that there are some things a father can’t provide.

Dinner soup with daddy????????

A photo posted by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) on Oct 19, 2015 at 12:28pm PDT

But of course, it’s not true. I had only to look at the way my brother parented his five year old daughter before he died, to recognise an incredible bond and parenting focus that often put my own to shame.

Ronaldo is right. One loving, incredible parent is way more than enough. It’s also so much more than a lot of people have. Some people have two crappy parents and some have none at all.

However Ronaldo arranged to have a child is really none of our business. The football star says he will never tell, although he will talk to his son when the time is right.

It’s challenging when our old fashioned beliefs are struck down. But it’s those barriers being tumbled that have allowed gay couples and single parents to adopt.  The result in this case is a child who is wholeheartedly loved by his father and who will grow up with at least one incredible parent. That’s a win.