PICTURE THE SCENE: You are in a Spanish hospital after getting your appendix removed and Ruud van Nistelrooy shows up.
A nice pick-me-up for most sports fans no matter what your footballing allegiance is.
One minor issue – van Nistelrooy is dressed a wise man, his face is painted black and, frankly, he looks terrifying.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker paid a visit to a hospital in Spain dressed in the regalia of Balthazar, one of the three kings [or wise men].
Revelling in his good deeds today, van Nistelrooy tweeted this:
As part of a long-running tradition in Spain, children receive presents from one of the three kings [Reyes Magos] on the night of 5 January or the morning of 6 January.
They often arrive in town as part of a cavalcade with much fanfare – being conspicuous is not their biblical bag.
Many of van Nistelrooy’s followers on Twitter mistook the forward for Zwart Piet, a Dutch folk hero, but an earlier Tweet confirmed that he was visiting the Spanish hospital as Balthazar.
Zwart Piet [Black Pete] is a friend of jolly old St Nicholas, who delivers sweets and presents to lucky individuals living in The Netherlands.
American children in West Virginian hospitals relied on Patch Adams for in-patient entertainment. We hope his was funnier than Robin Williams portrayed him to be in the 1998 comedy.
