Cristiano Ronaldo in touching gesture before Euro 2016 semi-final as he takes selfie with jubilant ball boy

The softer side of Cristiano Ronaldo was on display before he returned to his usual destructive self to knock Wales out of Euro 2016 after he was mobbed by an over-eager ball boy inside the Stade de Lumieres in Lyon.

With Ronaldo and his Portuguese teammates preparing for their semi-final encounter against Wales – which they went on to win 2-0 thanks to goals from Ronaldo and Nani – you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Real Madrid forward would be a little on edge in the seconds before kick-off.

So when a ball boy rushed towards the 31-year-old and tried to take a selfie with him, Ronaldo looked a little uneasy.

However, the £80m forward duly obliged once the camera phone was ready to take the snap, and he even hugged the young boy before he sprinted out of view.

With the team then required to come together for the official squad photo before the action got underway, Ronaldo waved in his teammates and can be seen to tell somebody not to come over.

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Too late. The ball boy rushed back into view, and as the Portuguese captain stood alongside goalkeeper Rui Patricio, he suddenly had another person lurking over his shoulder, for the ball boy had stuck around and even managed to sneak his way into the squad photograph.

Having seen enough, Ronaldo couldn’t stop himself from erupting into laughter, and he got one more hug before heading off to the coin toss on the halfway line.