DORTMUND, Germany – Cristiano Ronaldo should consider himself lucky not to have suffered any harm after being confronted on the pitch by four fans wanting to take selfies during a European Championship match on Saturday, Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said.
The alarming series of security breaches took place in the second half of Portugal’s 3-0 victory over Turkey at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund.
Ronaldo was happy to pose for a selfie with a young fan who avoided the stewards to enter the pitch in the 69th minute, before whipping out his mobile phone.
However, Ronaldo was clearly unhappy when two more people tried to do the same in the final minutes of the game. Then, another person – wearing Portugal’s red shirt – approached the 39-year-old striker to take a photograph moments after the final whistle.
Two more people tried to confront Ronaldo as he left the field with his teammates, but were stopped by security on those occasions.
“It’s a concern,” Martinez said, “because today we were lucky that the fans’ intentions were good.
“We all love a fan who recognizes the big stars and the big icons in their minds. We all agree with that. But you can understand that it was a very, very difficult time — if those intentions are wrong, the players are exposed and we need to be careful about that. I don’t think that should happen on a football field.”
Martinez said it was important to send a message to fans that this behavior was not acceptable.
“It’s not the right way, you won’t gain anything from it,” Martinez added. “And what you do is probably make the measures worse in the future.
“It’s not good to leave players so exposed when there are people running on the field.”
Bernardo Silva, Ronaldo’s teammate and top scorer against Turkey, said he was “not too worried” about the fans who entered the field.
“It’s a little annoying having to stop the game because a fan enters the field,” said Silva. “That’s the price you pay for being so recognized in the world of football.
“In terms of feeling in danger, no. Not me personally.
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