A 12-year-old got kicked out of school when he opted to pay tribute Brazilian football legend Ronaldo Nazário – with a rogue buzzcut which left only a triangle of hair exposed. 

Alfie Ransom asked his mother to give him the experimental chop – which had sports enthusiasts raising eyebrows when the striker debuted it at the 2002 World Cup, 20 years ago – after England won their first game in Qatar on Monday.

But the football fan’s ode to his hero was lost on the faculty at Sirius West Academy in Hull.

The pupil’s mother Emma Shaw said she yesterday received a phone call from the school, informing her that Alfie was being sent home for breaching rules.

The infamous haircut had sports enthusiasts raising eyebrows when the striker debuted it at the 2002 World Cup, 20 years ago

She questioned the secondary school on how his haircut would affect the boy’s learning, especially as it wasn’t too impractical – but they insisted that it violated uniform rules and he wouldn’t be allowed to come back until it was fully shaved off.

‘Nowadays, schools are all about accepting people for who they are and encouraging people to be unique and themselves,’ Emma, 32, said. ‘How is this any different?’

Alfie’s mother says Ronaldo is one of her son’s favourite players, and that the haircut made him ‘really happy and confident’. 

Emma also sees no harm in embracing the spirit of the World Cup, and finding style inspiration – unconventional as it may be – in public figures. 

Ronaldo is one of Alfie’s favourite players, and his mother said the haircut made him ‘really happy and confident’. Alfie’s chop pictured left and right

In 2018 revealed that the infamous hair-do was actually a deliberate distraction tactic to…