- Cristiano Ronaldo posed for a photo with a young pitch invader against Turkey
- The Portugal superstar was targeted by three pitch invaders during the match
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Cristiano Ronaldo made a young child’s dream come true after he paused to take a picture with the pitch invading fan midway through Portugal’s Euro 2024 clash against Turkey.
The incident was heart-warming as onlookers watched one of the world’s biggest celebrities pose with an innocent child, but also raised security concerns as four other fans also tried to get close to Ronaldo.
Pitch invaders usually face strict sanctions including lifetime bans from stadiums for interrupting play, but Ronaldo’s intervention and his age means that is unlikely to be the case for this intruder.
Such is the clamour around Ronaldo, who is competing in a record-breaking sixth European Championship, means fans have been doing everything in their power to get close to the Portugal superstar.
Open training sessions have quickly been sold out, with 12 individuals attempting to invade the pitch earlier this month, forcing team-mate Jose Sa to have to intervene.
However, Saturday’s second group game against Turkey saw one young fan manage to evade security and get a run at Ronaldo who stopped to embrace the child.
The child then pulled out a phone and posed for a photo with Ronaldo – who happily obliged – before running away again in an attempt to evade stewards.
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He surprisingly dodged several attempts from guards who were trying to get the fan off the pitch so play could resume, but was eventually brought to a halt near the dugout.
Ronaldo was left in a good mood following the exchange that was made even better as Portugal won the game 3-0 to ensure their qualification to the knockout stages of the tournament.
But, the Al-Nassr striker wasn’t able to get on the scoresheet as his wait for a first strike at Euro 2024 continues, however, Ronaldo extended his lead as the competition’s record assist holder when he squared the ball to Bruno Fernandes for his side’s third goal.
Ronaldo was less than impressed when a second supporter tried to get access to him by jumping onto the pitch towards the end of the match.
The fan who was possibly encouraged by the success of the child in getting a picture with Ronaldo tried their luck but were stopped short by guards.
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Another fan tried to do the same in the last minute of normal time, with five individuals making attempts to storm the pitch in a bid to get a picture with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
The most bizarre attempt came as Portugal players tried to leave the field at the end of the game, with stewards forming a circle around Ronaldo and his colleagues.
A desperate run saw the adult evade challenges before eventually being halted by a group of guards as Ronaldo watched on clearly unimpressed by the security breaches.
A steward involved in the attempt to stop the intruder caused concern for a possible injury to striker Goncalo Ramos after falling into the leg of the PSG star.