FIFA Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo, made the day of a young mascot in a wheelchair as they lead out Portugal ahead of their Confederations Cup clash with Russia.
The Portugal captain had 10-year old Polina Khayeredinova grinning from ear to ear as they emerged from the tunnel at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow.
It was the first time in the history of FIFA that a player was escorted by a disabled child.
The historic event was made possible by the Confederations Cup’s sponsor McDonald’s, showing that football is open to disabled children and lets them get involved in international competitions.
In a touching moment as the players lined up for the national anthems Ronaldo presented the youngster with his warm-up jacket and planted a kiss on her forehead.
She was clearly thoroughly enjoying her moment with Ronaldo, holding the Real Madrid star’s hand as they made their way on to the pitch to line up for the pre-match presentations.
That gesture seemed to have paid off as the 32-year-old star scored the only goal to silent the vociferous home fans as Portugal beat Russia 1-0.
More than 350 kids aged between 6 and 10 are participating in McDonald’s children’s program in the four host cities. Most of them come from orphanages, foster homes and low-income families.
Other children were selected after a special creative contest. Its jury included Russian football team’s coach Stanislav Cherchesov and former players Alexey Smertin, Sergey Semak and Dmitry Sennikov.
Watch video of Polina Khayeredinova below:
