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Brutal moment as a young pitch intruder meets former Manchester United star Nani after A-League match – before being bundled off the pitch and ‘shod by security’
- Young pitch invader makes video of himself running on pitch to hug soccer star
- Younger hugs Nani and tells him he loves him before being bundled up
- Video of the incident was shared online with title alleging abuse by security
- The Portuguese star said afterwards that it was nice to see children running on the pitch
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A cheeky A-League fan has recorded the moment he ran onto the pitch at Allianz Stadium to hug former Premier League star Nani, with the youngster claiming he was ‘beaten through security’ afterwards.
Melbourne Victory had a dramatic 3-2 away win over Sydney on Saturday night, with Portuguese legend Nani providing a stunning assist to help his side to victory in front of nearly 22,000 fans.
Portuguese legend Nani provided a stunning assist to help his Melbourne Victory side win against Sydney in front of nearly 22,000 fans at Allianz Stadium
One of these fans decided he wanted to hug the new A-League poster boy after the match ended, and made a video of him doing so.
In a clip posted to TikTok by ‘mohamedhadi_’ called ‘bro I got beat up in the security room’, the youngster says: ‘Guys, I’m going for a run on the field. Look at this’.
Then you can watch him jump over the barrier and run across the field to Nani, who was doing a live television interview.
Mohamed yells, ‘Nani! nani! I love you, Nani!’ and hugs the soccer star.
Nani smiles during the meeting and hugs the boy back as he clumsily tries to continue his interview.
The young pitch invader captured the moment he stormed onto the pitch at the Allianz Stadium to hug former Premier League star Nani. Moments later he was removed by guards
Seconds later, security arrives and the young football fan bundles up and the video ends abruptly.
The clip has been viewed more than a million times and although the title mentions violence by guards, Mohamed makes no further reference to it on the page or in the comments.
Nani certainly had no problem with the over-enthusiastic fan, he told the press afterwards.
“It was fun to watch the kids run onto the field,” he said.
“Security doesn’t like it, but this is the passion of the game, so when you see that we have to put ourselves in that position because we’ve all been like that.
Nani (pictured) said afterwards that he loved seeing children running around the field after the game and admired their ‘passion’
“We were children one day and we wanted to be. I hope those kids are happy.’
The 35-year-old also added that he is delighted with the amount of attention he is getting from the public during his first few months in Australia.
‘I like the environment here. People say there’s no culture here about football, but that’s not true,” he said.
“Everywhere I go, wherever I walk, people recognize me, people ask for pictures and that’s nice.