A young Portuguese fan went all the way to Lisbon airport to see the reigning European champions off to Russia.

• Ronaldo leaves mark, Portugal wins “3 stars” 
• Ronaldo’s beautiful action before World Cup 2018 
• Mourinho predicts Ronaldo will face Luis Suarez in the knockout round of the 2018 World Cup 

On Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese players wore smart suits to the airport to travel to Spain. Many fans came to the airport to see the players off. Among them, a young fan wore a Ronaldo shirt and ran to hug the 33-year-old star.

Ronaldo was surprised but did not want to spoil the boy’s joy. Ronaldo hugged the boy and signed an autograph.

The boy’s mother told reporters: “He loves the national team. He wanted Ronaldo’s autograph and is very happy now. He cried with joy.”

00:00:32

Young fan meets Ronaldo at the airport

The Portuguese team arrived at Zhukovsky International Airport (Moscow) in the afternoon of the same day. Unlike previous tournaments, Portugal came to the World Cup with confidence, having won the Euro 2 years ago.

Pepe is past his prime but his experience still helps the national team.

Portugal coach Fernando Santos.

In three friendly matches before the World Cup, Portugal drew 2-2 with Tunisia, 0-0 with Belgium and most recently defeated Algeria 3-0.

On June 15, Portugal face Spain in World Cup Group B, and then have matches against Morocco and Iran.