The mother of Santos forward Robinho, one of Brazil's most exciting young players, has been kidnapped, police say.
Marina de Souza, 43, was abducted by two armed men who invaded a barbecue in Praia Grande, near Santos, on Saturday night, detective Alberto Torrassa told reporters on Sunday.
The pair locked the other guests in the bathroom before driving off.
Torrassa said that so far the kidnappers had not been in contact with the family.
"Our target at the moment is to bring back the victim in safety, that's our only worry," said Torrassa.
Santos were away to Criciuma in a Brazilian championship match on Sunday afternoon but club president Marcelo Teixeira told reporters the player would return home and would not play.
Robinho, 20, shot to prominence two years ago as he helped Santos win the Brazilian championship for the first time in their history.
He was even compared to Brazil's most famous player Pele due to a physical resemblance and the fact that he plays at the same club where Pele spent most of his career.
In 2003, Robinho was again inspirational as Santos reached the final of the Libertadores Cup, the South American equivalent of the Champions League.
After a poor start to this season, when he was in the Brazil under-23 team who failed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Athens, he is now second top scorer in the Brazilian championship with 21 goals. Santos lead the table with six games to go.
Robinho has so far won only two full caps for Brazil, although he was in the squad for last year's CONCACAF Gold Cup when Brazil fielded an under-23 team but still reached the final before losing to Mexico.
pooor guy must be feeling reeal bad
Marina de Souza, 43, was abducted by two armed men who invaded a barbecue in Praia Grande, near Santos, on Saturday night, detective Alberto Torrassa told reporters on Sunday.
The pair locked the other guests in the bathroom before driving off.
Torrassa said that so far the kidnappers had not been in contact with the family.
"Our target at the moment is to bring back the victim in safety, that's our only worry," said Torrassa.
Santos were away to Criciuma in a Brazilian championship match on Sunday afternoon but club president Marcelo Teixeira told reporters the player would return home and would not play.
Robinho, 20, shot to prominence two years ago as he helped Santos win the Brazilian championship for the first time in their history.
He was even compared to Brazil's most famous player Pele due to a physical resemblance and the fact that he plays at the same club where Pele spent most of his career.
In 2003, Robinho was again inspirational as Santos reached the final of the Libertadores Cup, the South American equivalent of the Champions League.
After a poor start to this season, when he was in the Brazil under-23 team who failed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Athens, he is now second top scorer in the Brazilian championship with 21 goals. Santos lead the table with six games to go.
Robinho has so far won only two full caps for Brazil, although he was in the squad for last year's CONCACAF Gold Cup when Brazil fielded an under-23 team but still reached the final before losing to Mexico.
pooor guy must be feeling reeal bad
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