Humans have attempted to invade sports fields, sometimes resulting in arrests. The phenomenon even has a name, pitch invasion, and humans know better than to do it. But what about dogs?
On Sunday, a dog turned up out of the blue, uninvited to a soccer match between two professional Turkish football teams at an Istanbul stadium. It couldn't stay away, it couldn't fight it. It had hoped we'd see its face ... and, well, the entire world kinda did.
The professional football match - part of the Turkish Premier League - between Fatih Karagümrük SK and Giresunspor was interrupted by a stray dog who was clearly trying to flaunt his ball-handling skills to the world. In a video going viral online, players and officials are seen trying to take the ball away but failing numerous times.
At some point, another ball was thrown off the field in hopes of luring the pup away from the game. It worked ... for a little while only.
Eventually, Fatih Karagümrük midfielder Zeki Yildirim carried the dog off the field so that the game could resume. The dog actually earned praise for its skills from a live TV commentator during Sunday's game.
In the end, Yildirim's team ended up defeating Giresunspor with 2-1 score. Maybe the team should adopt the dog as its official mascot?
This wouldn't be the first time a dog plays the field, quite literally. One of the most well-known incidents dates back to 1997 in the U.S. At the time, sportswriter Mark Schlabach's "chocolate Labrador retriever" jumped onto the field at Sanford Stadium in Georgia during an American football game between the home team and Kentucky.
Apparently, dogs know what humans are into. The internet's reaction to the latest pup intrusion is proof of this very statement.
"This should be a sport"
"Now this is football"
"Sign this dog immediately"
"I want to be the dog's manager/trainer"
