A pitch invader grabbed Cristiano Ronaldo before security were forced to intervene ahead of Portugal’s 2-1 win over Germany.
The footballing icon scored the winning goal that secured his country a place in the Nations League final on Wednesday night.
Ronaldo’s goal secured Portugal’s place in the Nations League finalGetty But it came after he was accosted by a pitch invader while the teams warmed upAFP via GettyHowever, his heroics came after he was approached by a fan who managed to get onto the pitch at the Allianz Arena.
As Ronaldo was going through his warm-up along with the rest of his Portugal teammates, he was interrupted.
A pitch invader reached the 40-year-old before security could get to him, and he was grabbed by the sprinting fan who appeared to be looking to try and get a selfie.
Ronaldo jumped out of the way at first as the fan came in at full speed and he did well to avoid falling over on the slippery turf.
But the unruly supporter tried his luck again and managed to place his hands on the legend, before a Portugal staff member intervened.
Stadium security were not far behind, with one steward then placing the fan in a headlock and dragging him away.
Ronaldo’s teammates were left rather perplexed at what had unfolded as they continued to go through their warm-up.
Fortunately, no harm was done, and Ronaldo was just left with a rather bemused look before continuing to prepare.
The incident came after Portugal and Germany had to conduct their warm-ups later than anticipated due to inclement weather.
Rain had fallen by the bucketload in Bavaria, but it was a huge burst of hailstones that prompted kick-off to be delayed by 10 minutes.
The fan was dragged away by stewards immediatelyAFP via Getty Ronaldo now has 937 career goals, 137 for PortugalGettyThe delayed start may have caused the two teams to make a slow start too, as they went into half-time level at 0-0.
Germany eventually took the lead soon after the break, thanks to Liverpool target Florian Wirtz.
However, a goal from Francisco Conceicao brought the game back level and Ronaldo then stepped up to win it.
He found himself in space as Nuno Mendes laid the ball on a plate for him with a low cross from the left and made no mistake with the simplest of finishes.
The 2-1 victory for Portugal was their first win over Germany in 25 years.
As Ronaldo made his international debut in 2003, this is the first ever time he has been on the winning side when facing the German national team.
Portugal are eyeing Nations League glory for a second time, having won the inaugural competition in 2019GettyRonaldo sits clear as Portugal’s most capped player and record goalscorer, with 220 caps and 137 goals to his name.
His triple-figure goal tally is an absurd 89 more than Pauleta, who has scored the second-most goals for Portugal with 47 from 88 caps.
The five-time Ballon d’Or hopes to add a second Nations League trophy to his illustrious silverware collection after booking his country’s place in the final this Sunday.
Portugal won the inaugural instalment of the tournament in 2019 when they beat the Netherlands in the final thanks to Goncalo Guedes’ strike.
Ronaldo captained the side and played the full contest as he picked up just his second international trophy to go with his Euro 2016 title.
He also finished as the third-top goalscorer in League A for the 2018/19 Nations League with three, a tally bettered by only Switzerland’s Haris Seferovic and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku.
But Ronaldo performed even better in the latest edition of the Nations League as he top-scored with six goals.
Germany’s Tim Kleindienst was the second-highest goalscorer in League A with four as a whopping 12 players were tied for third with three goals.
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