At the final whistle of Ireland-Portugal (0-0), Thursday evening in Dublin, an Irish girl invited herself on the lawn to try to approach Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite the intervention of security, the five-time Golden Ball offered his jersey to the little fan, and a nice hug.
The class. Even after a disappointing result, even after a complicated meeting. While Portugal had to be satisfied Thursday night with a draw in Ireland in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup (0-0), and Cristiano Ronaldo – a rare thing – failed to shake the nets, the end of the match resulted in a pretty scene.
At the final whistle, an Irish girl came down from a stand at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and invited herself onto the lawn to try to approach the five-fold Golden Ball. Unfortunately (for her), security quickly reacted to stop the young intruder. Except that CR7 … had seen it all.
A Portugal-Serbia “final” on Sunday evening
Despite the frustration of the draw, Ronaldo motioned to the stewards to let the little Irishman pass, hugged her, and gave her his jersey, while she burst into tears and the Dublin audience cheered. Accompanied by an agent to her father, the girl was even entitled to an improvised photo shoot at the foot of the platform, with the tunic of her idol.
Group A leaders tied on points with Serbia, Portugal will be entitled to their final on Sunday night at home, against Dragan Stojkovic’s men. A match that Ronaldo and his comrades will not have the right to lose, under penalty of going into play-offs.
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