Photo finish brings chaos

Selfie-seeking fans add to Ronaldo's frustrations in win over Turkey

- STEVE DOUGLAS

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo poses for a selfie with a young pitch invader during Saturday's game against Turkey.

By the end, it was hard to know what Cristiano Ronaldo was more frustrated about — failing to score for the second straight game at the European Championship or having to fend off repeated attempts for selfies by his adoring fans.

In what proved to be a wild and potentially dangerous match for the five-time world player of the year, Ronaldo had no goals, one assist and no less than four selfieseeking field invaders for company in Portugal’s 3-0 win over Turkey that secured his team a spot in Euro 2024’s round of 16 on Saturday.

Ronaldo, one of the world’s most well-known sports stars, was the centre of attention as always at Westfalenstadion. Just not how he might have expected.

“That’s the price you pay for being so recognized in the world of football,” said Bernardo Silva, Ronaldo’s Portugal teammate.

Making a record 27th appearance at the Euros, Ronaldo did get his first goal involvement of this tournament when he set up the third by Bruno Fernandes in the 55th minute with an unselfish pass across the face of the six-yard box after being played clean through.