FUNCHAL, Portugal — The roads of Madeira twist together like licorice ropes, their spindly curves beginning at the seashore and rising up the steps of this steep island in a maze reminiscent of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. The slow climb here comes with a similar feeling to the Brazilian shanties, too: one of utter insulation, a complete removal from the tourist areas that lie below.

That sentiment is fierce within the residents. Last week in Santo Antonio, a parish on the middle of the mountain, two men stood at a table in front of a modest outdoor bar. The men were talking about Madeira’s most famous native, the soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. But they were not reliving one of Ronaldo’s magical goals for Real Madrid nor reveling in one of his epic performances for the national team of Portugal. Rather, they were reminiscing about the time when Ronaldo very nearly ruined his professional career before it ever began.

This happened long before Ronaldo, 29, was a star at Real Madrid, the Spanish giant that will face a city neighbor, Atlético Madrid, in the Champions League final on Saturday. It was before Ronaldo’s six years at Manchester United and before he became a global icon and before he was named the captain of Portugal, a role he will continue this summer at the World Cup. The moment the men remembered came when Ronaldo was just a teenager, his godfather, Fernao Sousa, said at the bar. It was when Ronaldo still clung ferociously to that insulation provided by this tiny archipelago known as Pérola do Atlântico, the Pearl of the Atlantic. It was when he did not want to leave.