Shortly into the second half between Portugal and Uruguay, a spectator stormed the pitch with a rainbow flag. During the court storming, the person lost the flag, and the referee quickly took care of it. As a result of the incident, the match had to be stopped for a short period. The person was quickly led off the field by several security guards. – That is today’s man. He has followed the championship, and simply takes matters into his own hands, says news expert Kristoffer Løkberg in the WC studio after the match. CAPTURED: The man was quickly taken out of the arena by guards. Photo: Aijaz Rahi / AP The episode was received with loud noise from the stands. According to several media outlets, the trailblazer is Italian Mario Ferri. He is a familiar name to several people after marking during football matches. In 2014, he also stormed the pitch in the World Cup match between Belgium and the USA, where he fronted children in the Brazilian favela. – Then there is a spectator who runs onto the field with a rainbow flag. There is heavy symbolism. The audience boos at the guards who take this guy off the pitch, said news’s commentator Christian Nilssen. Fernandes double A few minutes later, Portugal took the lead with Bruno Fernandes. The first score of the match was probably intended as a cross from Fernandes’ side, but the ball went straight into the goal. Ronaldo was just centimeters away from putting his boot on the ball, but the goal was credited to the attacking midfielder. – I think it is the result of good teamwork, and we must focus on that. In the first two games, the team has performed well, not just the player. We shouldn’t focus on individual players CHEER: Just over 50 minutes, shortly after storming the pitch, Fernandes scored for Portugal. Photo: ODD ANDERSEN / AFP In overtime, the same man also doubled the lead from the penalty spot. Fernandes earned the penalty himself after a handball inside Uruguay’s 16-metre box, and was ice cold from the chalk mark. Portugal thus won the match 2–0 and is ready for the round of 16 after their second straight group stage victory. – It was fantastic to have him on stage. He is strongly involved in the victory, of course, said Åge Hareide, who requested more involvement from Fernandes during the break, in news’s WC studio. Fernandes was naturally satisfied with his own performance after the match. The two-goal scorer had not caught on to the striker’s stunt just before his own leading goal. – I don’t really have an opinion on it. I was focused on the match and didn’t see the message. We have talked about it many times, I have talked about it: We respect all human rights, but there are political issues where we do not have the strength to change anything, the Manchester United player answers the question from news. WATCH: Highlights from Portugal’s 2-0 win over Uruguay. – There were cheers But despite the Portugal triumph, the match’s big topic of conversation was the spectator who stormed the pitch with several clear messages. The trailblazer was wearing a t-shirt with a Superman logo with the words “Save Ukraine” and “Respect for Iranian woman” on it. – There were cheers when he came in. We can like that, without getting too political here, Nilssen continued. – It was nice to see the reaction from the audience, expert commentator Carl-Erik Torp followed up with. WATCH: Here the trailblazer is laid to rest. One of the big topics of conversation during this year’s WC has been rainbow effects. Several nations had planned to use captain’s armbands with rainbow colors during the World Cup in Qatar. In the host country, homosexuality is prohibited and, according to Amnesty, it can be punished with seven years in prison. After Fifa made threats of sporting punishment for using the captain’s armband, all nations stopped using it. A number of supporters in Qatar have been stopped from bringing rainbow effects into the stadiums, despite the fact that before the World Cup it was announced that the rainbow symbol was legal. Several have marked Several government officials, including the German Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, have lined up in the World Cup stands with the colorful captain’s armband. British Sports Minister Stuart Andrew has announced that he will do the same when England face Wales in the World Cup on Tuesday. The OneLove campaign stands up against discrimination and actively uses rainbow colors to show solidarity with the LGBT+ community. In Qatar, homosexuality is prohibited.
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