Roberto Martinez has expressed his concerns after Portugal’s 3-0 win over Turkey was interrupted by six pitch invaders who targeted Cristiano Ronaldo.
Five fans managed to get to Ronaldo during Saturday’s match in Dortmund and Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos was wiped out by a steward on the last occasion. The first intruder was warmly greeted by Ronaldo, who posed for a photo, but the incident seemed to encourage others to do the same.
UEFA and hosts Germany will face questions about the problem, given how easily the pitch invaders got past the stewards. Martinez is concerned that having a global superstar like Ronaldo in his team could be problematic going forward in the tournament.
“It is a concern because today we were lucky that the intentions of the fans were good,” Martinez said here. “We all love a fan who recognises the big stars and the big icons in their life. We all agree with that. But there is a very, very difficult moments if those intentions are wrong – the players are exposed and we need to be careful with that.
“I don’t think that should happen on a football pitch. There is a lot of security and a lot of protection and it should not happen. And probably we should give a message to the fans that it’s not the right way, you’re not going to get anything out of it and probably the measures will get worse for the future. It’s not good to have the players so exposed when people are running on the pitch.”
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Bernardo Silva opened the scoring from Rafael Leao’s cut-back before a calamitous own goal made it 2-0. Some more shambolic Turkey defending then allowed Ronaldo to put the third goal on a plate for his former Manchester United team-mate Bruno Fernandes.
In contrast to his manager, Silva played down the pitch invader problem. “It’s just a bit annoying in terms of always having to stop the game because a fan enters the pitch,” he said. “But I think that’s the price you pay for being so recognised in the world of football and having a player like him with us. But in terms of feeling in danger, I don’t think so, no. Not me personally.”
The pitch invader incidents have raised concerns over security at Euro 2024 (Oguz Yeter/Anadolu via Getty Images)Ronaldo didn’t seem too concerned either, posting pictures from the match on Instagram alongside the caption: “In a hurry and first place guaranteed, Proud of this team, we are Portugal!” Portugal have indeed booked their place in the knockout stages with a match to spare, having come from behind to beat the Czech Republic in the first game.
They have scored five goals without Ronaldo getting on the score sheet in 180 minutes of football. The Al-Nassr striker, 39, is playing in a record sixth European Championship and is desperate to get off the mark ahead of a final Group F match against Georgia in Stuttgart on Wednesday.
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