Magnificent stuff.
The first leg of Brazil's Campeonato Pernambucano final was - as a lot of finals tend to be - a tense affair. Fortunately, thanks to an unexpected intervention from a police dog, those in attendance had something to take their mind of the football for a couple of minutes.
Retro had taken a second-half lead against Nautico at Recife's Estadio dos Aflitos. With Nautico pressing for an equaliser in the closing stages, play had to be temporarily halted as the dog entered the field of play.
It quickly emerged that it dog belonged to the police and had made a break for the pitch after slipping its lead.
Clearly having the time of its life, the dog spent 30 seconds charging around between bewildered players from both sides before a police handler eventually entered the field with a lead to try and capture it.
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The dog's handler struggled to recapture it.
The dog clearly had other ideas, initially evading the handler and picking up the match ball in his mouth before continuing to run rings around everyone for another minute or so.
Eventually, the police were able to coax the dog towards them and get it back on the lead, finally allowing the game to resume.
The game was played on Thursday and ended in a 1-0 victory for Retro. The highlight of the night was in no doubt. The return leg, which will probably not feature any pitch-invading dogs, takes place next Saturday.
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