A large crowd of Iran fans gathered outside the Portuguese national football team’s hotel yesterday, (June 24) and did their best to keep the players up all night ahead of their final World Cup Group B match tonight.
Iran take on Fernando Santos’ Portugal side for a place in the last 16, and Iranian fans made it their mission to keep the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Andre Silva and Bernardo Silva up all night.
The fans gathered outside the Mercure hotel in Saransk – where the Portugal team were trying to get some much-needed rest on Sunday night, chanting loudly, banging drums, playing trumpets, and, in true World Cup fashion, blew Vuvuzelas, into the early hours of Monday morning (June 25).
Check out the footage below:
The crowd were so loud, Ronaldo eventually came to his bedroom window and tried to tell the mischievous Iranian fans to keep quiet.
He was spotted wagging his finger and gesturing how he was trying to sleep, before giving a thumbs up.
Here he is:
Unfortunately, Ronaldo’s pleas were ignored by the lively fans – and in fact, it probably spurred them on knowing their plans were working.
It has been reported the noise continued through the night.
The attempts to leave Ronaldo and his teammates sleep-deprived probably stemmed from the captain’s top-notch performances he’s put on so far in Russia, scoring four goals in Portugal’s first two games.
Ronaldo was overtaken by England’s Harry Kane yesterday in the race for the golden boot, and no doubt will be keen to add to his tally of four goals, setting up a last-16 tie against either Russia or Uruguay.
The plot to keep the Portugal team up all night was a desperate move by Iranian fans, whose team can only advance to the next stage of the World Cup if they beat the European champions.
Portugal only need a draw, but a win could see them take top position in Group B – depending on Spain’s result against Morocco.
The team will now have to rely on their skills – and Portugal’s sleepiness – to stay in the tournament after tonight’s game.
A note to anyone who takes on the Iranian team in the future – keep your hotel a secret, and maybe invest in some earplugs.
In Portugal’s tie with Spain, Ronaldo stepped up to take a penalty, smashing the ball to Spanish keeper David De Gea’s left, sending him the wrong way.
In explosive celebration the forward darted for the corner flag with his trademark quarter-pirouette/kinda D-Generation X thing.
And then he started scratching his chin in a Jimmy Hill chinny fashion, you know, that thing people used to do when they were accusing you of lying… back in school.
Some people on Twitter thought Ronaldo’s chin stroking celebration was merely ‘taking the Mick’ out of De Gea’s facial hair and attempt at spot mind games – which may or may not be the case.
Who knows!?
What I do know is Iran v Portugal kicks off tonight (June 25) at 7pm, and I’ll be tuning in.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.