Brilliant video of dog running onto football pitch and refusing to leave goes viral [video]

Pitch invaders are becoming increasingly common at football matches these days, but it’s still rare to see an animal running onto the field of play. 

This is exactly what happened during a friendly encounter between Chile and Venezuela’s women’s football teams at the Estadio La Granja.

With the match goalless at the 36th minute, play was stopped after a large black dog ran onto the pitch.

It lay at the feet of Chile’s goalkeeper Christine Endler, rolling over so its stomach could be scratched. 

It then bounded over to the referee, again rolling over in a playful fashion, before running the length of the pitch and over to the technical area. 

Players attempted to pick the dog up on several occasions, but it refused to be lifted from the pitch. 

Two players then managed to pick up the dog together, and it was taken to the sidelines. 

It is not the first time a dog has invaded a football pitch in Chile. There was a bizarre moment during a Sunday League match last year when an Alsatian scored a set-piece. 

EVERYBODY STOP RIGHT NOW AND WATCH THIS!!! THIS IS WHAT WE ALL NEEDED! pic.twitter.com/gjmqFErrSs

Deportivo San Miguel de Rio Viejo had been given a free-kick in a dangerous area when the dog burst onto the pitch, producing a superb header to divert the ball into the net. It then wheeled away in celebration as fans in attendance laughed and cheered. 

A clip of the moment during Chile’s match against Venezuela has now gone viral on Twitter, accumulating more than 42,000 likes and 6,000 retweets at the time of writing.

Venezuela went on to win the match 1-0, with Mariana Speckmaier scoring in the 82nd minute. 

Both Chile and Venezuela are preparing for the Copa América Femenina, which gets underway in Colombia on July 8th.