Real Madrid's Portuguese striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, on Sunday dedicated a goal which he scored against Villarreal to the victims of the mudslide disaster which hit his native Madeira.

The 24-year-old lifted his Real jersey to reveal a white t-shirt with the word "Madeira" written in black, and pointed at the sky after opening the scoring during the Spanish league match at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium following a freekick.

Earlier on Sunday, Ronaldo, the world's most expensive footballer, said he had been left "incredulous" and "shocked" by the size of the disaster and promised help for relief efforts.

"It is a huge catastrophe, a tragedy without precedent," said Ronaldo, who was born in a poor district of Funchal, capital of Madeira, where at least 40 people died in storms which unleashed torrents of mud on Saturday.

"No-one can remain indifferent to a calamity of such huge proportions, least of all me who was born and grew up in Madeira, an island which clearly I think about a lot," he was quoted as saying on the website of his agent, Gestifrute.

"It is for this reason that I want to express my availability to help the organizations and official entities to alleviate and overcome the consequences of this great devastation," Ronaldo said.