Touching moment Cristiano Ronaldo walked onto Real Madrid pitch holding hand of Syrian refugee who was tripped by Hungarian camerawoman 

  • Ronaldo led Zaid Abdel-Muhsen Alghadab onto the Madrid on Saturday 
  • Young Syrian refugee was beaming and looking up in awe at his heroes
  • Father Osama and brother Mohammad were guests of honour in the crowd
  • Joyous reception was in contrast to how family were treated in Hungary
  • There, camerawoman Petra Laszlo was filmed tripping Osama up as he carried Zaid across a field - injuring them both

By John Hall for MailOnline

Published: 18:29 EST, 19 September 2015 | Updated: 13:42 EST, 21 September 2015

Cristiano Ronaldo arrived for Real Madrid's weekend match against Granada accompanied by the son of the Syrian refugee who was cruelly tripped over by a Hungarian camerawoman.

The club invited Zaid Abdel-Muhsen Alghadab, his father Osama and brother Mohammad to the Spanish capital on Saturday night as part of their campaign to support refugees arriving in Europe.

There was global outrage earlier this month after shocking footage emerged showing Hungarian camerawoman Petra Laszlo kicking children and tripping Osama up as he carried a terrified Zaid across a field on the Hungarian-Serbian border.

The Alghadab family finally arrived in Spain last week - with staff at a school for football coaches in the Madrid suburb of Getafe in Spain tracking down the devoted father - and offering to help him rebuild his life by giving him a job and accommodation.

Scroll down for video 

Happy: Cristiano Ronaldo arrived for Real Madrid's weekend match against Granada accompanied by the son of the Syrian refugee who was cruelly tripped over by a Hungarian camerawoman 

Happy: Cristiano Ronaldo arrived for Real Madrid's weekend match against Granada accompanied by the son of the Syrian refugee who was cruelly tripped over by a Hungarian camerawoman 

Beaming: In emotional scenes at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, a beaming Zaid was led out in front of the huge crowd, who greeted him with rapturous applause

Beaming: In emotional scenes at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, a beaming Zaid was led out in front of the huge crowd, who greeted him with rapturous applause

Appalling: There was global outrage earlier this month after shocking footage emerged showing Hungarian camerawoman Petra Laszlo (left) kicking children and tripping Osama up as he carried a terrified Zaid across a field on the Hungarian-Serbian border

Appalling: There was global outrage earlier this month after shocking footage emerged showing Hungarian camerawoman Petra Laszlo (left) kicking children and tripping Osama up as he carried a terrified Zaid across a field on the Hungarian-Serbian border

Osama Abdel-Muhsen Alghadab was holding his son Zaid in his arms when he was tripped by Petra Laszlo

Osama Abdel-Muhsen Alghadab was holding his son Zaid in his arms when he was tripped by Petra Laszlo

Harrowing: Osama was caught off guard and landed heavily with Zaid underneath him while Laszlo looked on. Mr Alghadab suffered bruising on his chin when the Hungarian camerawoman tripped him and Zaid had bruises on his leg and chin. Later in the evening, Zaid was vomiting as a result of the shock

Harrowing: Osama was caught off guard and landed heavily with Zaid underneath him while Laszlo looked on. Mr Alghadab suffered bruising on his chin when the Hungarian camerawoman tripped him and Zaid had bruises on his leg and chin. Later in the evening, Zaid was vomiting as a result of the shock

In emotional scenes at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, a beaming Zaid was led out in front of the huge crowd, who greeted him with rapturous applause.

Looking up in awe at his hero Ronaldo, the young Syrian refugee posed for photographs with the Real Madrid stars, who were wearing T-shirts in support of the thousands of desperate refugees who have arrived in Europe in recent months having fled the horrors of the Syrian Civil War.

Guests of honour at the game, which Real Madrid won 1-0, were Osama and Zaid's brother Mohammad who looked on proudly as Zaid stood alongside some of the world's best footballers.

The touching reception was a far cry from that received by the Alghadab family when they arrived in Hungary earlier this month.

In appalling scenes, Petra Laszlo was filmed tripping Osama up as he carried a terrified Zaid across a field on the Hungary-Serbia border.

Osama was caught off guard and landed heavily with Zaid underneath him while Laszlo looked on.

Mr Alghadab suffered bruising on his chin when the Hungarian camerawoman tripped him and Zaid had bruises on his leg and chin. Later in the evening, Zaid was vomiting as a result of the shock.

As global outrage built over the incident, Laszlo attempted to apologise - denying accusations of racism and claiming that she thought she was being attacked by the devoted father who had talked towards her with his young son in his arms. 

Looking up in awe at his hero Ronaldo, the young Syrian refugee posed for photographs with the Real Madrid stars who were wearing T-shirts in support of the thousands of desperate Syrian refugees

Looking up in awe at his hero Ronaldo, the young Syrian refugee posed for photographs with the Real Madrid stars who were wearing T-shirts in support of the thousands of desperate Syrian refugees

Guests of honour at the game, which Real Madrid won 1-0, were Osama (right) and Zaid's brother Mohammad (left) who looked on proudly as Zaid stood alongside some of the world's best footballers

Guests of honour at the game, which Real Madrid won 1-0, were Osama (right) and Zaid's brother Mohammad (left) who looked on proudly as Zaid stood alongside some of the world's best footballers

Responding to Laszlo's claims that she thought she was being attacked, Mr Alghadab told MailOnline: 'People would not attack the media because the media were very nice to the refugees.'

In a letter to Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet, Laszlo, 40, said she was 'truly sorry'.

'The camera was shooting, hundreds of migrants broke through the police cordon, one of them rushed to me and I was scared,' she wrote.

Claiming something then 'snapped in me', she added: 'I just thought that I was being attacked and I had to protect myself.'

Soon after the footage surfaced, Laszlo was fired from her job as a camerawoman for Hungarian news site N1TV, which is run by the anti-immigration far-right Jobbik party. 

She also faces criminal charges for breaching the peace.

'It's hard to make good decisions at a time when people are in a panic and many hundreds of people rushing. I'm sorry about what happened... I take responsibility for it,' she said.

'I'm not a heartless, racist children-kicking [camerawoman]. I do not deserve the political witch hunts against me, nor the smears, [or] the death threats... I am truly sorry,' she added.

Osama Abdul Mohsen has arrived in Barcelona ready to start his new life as a football coach
He and his young son, Zaid (pictured), made headlines globally after they were tripped by a Hungarian camerawoman last week

Safe at last: Last week heartwarming photographs emerged showing the Alghadab arriving at Barcelona train station, from where they began the final leg of their journey on to start a new life in Madrid 

Osama and Zaid were pictured on the train as they arrived at Barcelona train station

Osama and Zaid were pictured on the train as they arrived at Barcelona train station

New joy: Osama Abdul Mohsen has been offered a job coaching football at a Spanish school

New joy: Osama Abdul Mohsen has been offered a job coaching football at a Spanish school

Last week heartwarming photographs emerged showing the Alghadab arriving at Barcelona train station, from where they began the final leg of their journey on to start a new life in Madrid.

While Mr Alghadab has been offered employment at CENAFE - a school for football coaches in the suburb of Getafe - his wife and two other children remain in Turkey

CENAFE and the Spanish authorities are apparently working on getting the trio over to Madrid to join the rest of their family.

The school said it made the kind offer after its president, Miguel Ángel Galán, witnessed Mohsen's plight in the Spanish media.

'When we saw the story of Mohsen published in the newspapers we felt very bad about it,' Galán told El País, explaining how he had managed to contact the father and son via a Spanish journalist.

'We are a centre for coaches and we like to help everyone who works in this area,' he added.

Mohsen, Zaid and another of Mohsen's sons are now on a train from Munich, Germany, which is set to arrive in Madrid at midnight on Wednesday, according to school official, Luis Miguel Pedraza.

A school coaching graduate who speaks Arabic is on the train with them,The Local reports.

Comments (469)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now