‘Selfie with Ronaldo’ pitch invaders among talking points as Portugal thrash Turkey in Euro 2024
Four fans, including a child, ran onto the pitch at a Euro 2024 match with a goal of their own on Saturday – scoring a selfie with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The second half of Portugal’s match against Turkey faced interruptions as multiple people managed to evade stewards and get onto the pitch at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany.
Ronaldo was happy to pose for a picture with the first young pitch invader, who got onto the field in the 69th minute and whipped out his phone for a snap. The youngster was then chased off the pitch and eventually stopped by staff – but not before he waved to the crowd.
Around 15 minutes later, an older spectator tried to do the same but received a different reaction from the former Manchester United star. Ronaldo threw his hands in the air and turned his back on the fan, who tried to put his arm around him.
A third field invader emerged during injury time and ran past Ronaldo as he defended a corner. The security breaches continued after the whistle, as two more fans tried to get close to the forward. The first was tackled to the ground as he tried to approach while holding a phone, and the second was stopped as he tried to confront Ronaldo as the teams left the field.
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez labelled the interruptions a “concern” in a post-match interview, adding: “Today we were lucky that the intentions of the fans were good. We all love a fan that recognises the big stars and the big icons in their minds. But you can understand it was a very, very difficult moment – if those intentions are wrong, the players are exposed and we need to be careful with that. I don’t think that should happen on a football pitch.”
Portugal won 3-0 and secured their spot in the knockout stage of Euro 2024 with one group match still to play. They will face Georgia on Wednesday at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen – where England beat Serbia in their first match of the competition. Ronaldo, who signed for Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr in late 2022, is rumoured to be the highest-paid footballer in history with a salary upwards of £160m a year.
