Cristiano Ronaldo’s immense popularity was on full display at Euro 2024 as he took a selfie with a lucky fan.
The Portugal legend starred in their 3-0 Group F win against Turkey on Thursday to send them through to the knockout stages.
Given he’s considered to be one of the greatest players of all-time, it comes as no surprise that many fans are desperate to meet him.
So much so that one lucky supporter now has a moment he will never forget as he was on hand to grab a picture with the Al Nassr star.
The youngster was able to evade security and run onto the pitch at the Signal Iduna Park to meet his supposed idol.
Ronaldo was more than happy to take the picture with him but later on, more fans tried their luck to do the same.
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Another pitch invader was able to reach him and got his phone out to grab a selfie, although this time the 39-year-old appeared irked.
There were six attempts in total from hopeful fans to meet him both during play and after the full-time whistle.
Speaking on commentary for talkSPORT, Adrian Durham raised his concerns over how many pitch invaders there were: “I’ve got to say, there were fans running onto the pitch to get a selfie with Ronaldo at the start of the first Portuguese game.
“Fans running on the pitch at the end of the second, I think we all knew that was likely to happen or fans were likely to try and do that before the tournament even started.
“It will be nice, Dean Ashton, if UEFA and security in each of the stadia could just wise up to what’s going on because there’s a real fear one of those fans could get close to him and then the worst case scenario is absolutely unthinkable. These fans are getting as close to him as they want and it’s got to stop, hasn’t it?”
Former West Ham striker Ashton replied: “It has. I think he handles it brilliantly because it must be scary, to be honest, to have a supporter run on, you don’t know what they’ve got with them and we’ve seen it in other sports down the years.
“You’re right, that is down to the authorities to make sure that these things don’t happen and certainly down to a minimum… to have three or four in the space of ten minutes in particular in that second-half is a worry.”
However, not all were successful as Ronaldo eventually walked off the pitch following another memorable performance for Portugal.
Bernardo Silva gave them the lead in the 25th minute before a calamitous own-goal from Samet Akaydin made it 2-0.
Ronaldo then assisted Bruno Fernandes for their third to see him break the record for the most ever assists at the Euros with seven.
He is still yet to get on the scoresheet at Euro 2024 but has helped Portugal reach the last 16 once again.
They face Georgia in their final group match before the knockout stages on Wednesday night, live on talkSPORT, where Ronaldo could be set for another adoring reception.
talkSPORT will bring you live commentary of EVERY game at Euro 2024. Tune in via the website or the app, and follow our live Euro 2024 blog for all the latest news, views and reaction to the big moments.
News Summary:
- Cristiano Ronaldo takes selfie with young pitch invader before FIVE more fans storm pitch during Portugal clash
- Check all news and articles from the latest Football updates.