France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had an intimate moment with a dragonfly that landed on his lips during the first half of his team’s World Cup quarter-final versus Uruguay in Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.
Cameras captured an apparent dragonfly flying onto the lips of Les Bleus captain and stopper Lloris as he barked orders to his defense.
LIVE UPDATES: Uruguay v France: Varane header gives Les Bleus the lead in World Cup quarter-final
At the very moment the winged critter perched on Lloris’ lips, the goalkeeper showed his alertness and reflexes aren’t just for keeping footballs out of goals but also bugs out of his mouth by recoiling and spitting the fly away.
📆 2014 - James Rodriguez📆 2016 - Cristiano Ronaldo📆 2018 - Hugo LlorisIt's not an international tournament until the bugs take over! 🤣🦟 pic.twitter.com/qFNAczjo1j
— 90min (@90min_Football) July 6, 2018
2014: James Rodriguez 2018: Hugo LlorisThe #WorldCup really is A Bug's Life pic.twitter.com/YuyNAa83GN
— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) July 6, 2018
@MenInBlazers Hugo Lloris with the best takedown of a giant insect since Godzilla defeated Mothra. pic.twitter.com/utWvFI6kDS
— Mike Sell (@mike_sell) July 6, 2018
BREAKING: Hugo Lloris eats flies!#WorldCup pic.twitter.com/koPbUg09Fj
— Flanallana (@Flanallana) July 6, 2018
I may need a minute or two to get over that super slo-mo of a giant big flying into Hugo Lloris's mouth.
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) July 6, 2018
Many compared the moment to when a moth landed on Cristiano Ronaldo's face during the Euro 2016 final against France last summer. This time Lloris, who played in that game, was on the receiving end of some bug love.
Within moments of the incident, a Twitter account had been set up dedicated to the fly, thanking Lloris for the opportunity for a star selfie.
Cheers for the selfie Hugo Lloris. A great moment for me and my family pic.twitter.com/V1gwYY8DAZ
— The Lloris Dragonfly (@LlorisThe) July 6, 2018
During the match, Lloris pulled off one of the saves of the game when he stooped to deny Martin Caceres’ header from a free-kick at full stretch with the score at 1-0.
France had opened the scoring thanks to a Raphael Varane header from an Antoine Griezmann set piece, to put one foot in the World Cup semi-final against either Brazil or Belgium.