Moment pitch invader hugs Lionel Messi during Socceroos Beijing game before slamming security guards

A football fan managed to meet his idol Lionel Messi in the flesh in China – but how he went about it has raised security concerns.

The supporter burst onto the pitch at the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing and hugged his hero while wearing the iconic Argentina number 10 jersey.

In comical scenes, he went onto high-five goalkeeper Emi Martinez before eventually being nabbed by security during the friendly against the Socceroos.

Footage shows the man being carried away from the venue.

The pitch invader later apologised for his conduct – but not before criticising security for being slow to act.

The pitch invader hugs football superstar Lionel Messi before leading security guards on a long chase across the ground

‘I hope to use my negative case to tell the security personnel that your security work is not competent and gave me such an opportunity,’ he said.

‘There will be many international competitions in Beijing in the future. I hope you will improve your security capabilities.’

Messi scored the fastest goal of his international career as Australia were outclassed 2-0 by the world champions.

Graham Arnold’s charges had hoped to exact some revenge for their 2-1 round of 16 defeat at the 2022 World Cup.

But six months on from the Qatar clash, Messi needed just 79 seconds to score his 103rd international goal and break the deadlock.

While the Socceroos were shell-shocked, they soon found their groove.

Striker Mitch Duke was denied by a brilliant Martinez save in the 28th minute while left-back Jordan Bos, on his starting debut, and Riley McGree in midfield caught the eye.

German Pezzella headed home in the 68th minute to put the game beyond Australia’s reach, but Arnold was proud of his charges’ efforts, especially after only having 17 per cent of possession in the opening 10 minutes.

In comical scenes, the fan went onto high five Argentine goalkeeper Emi Martinez

Messi guided the world champions to a 2-0 win, scoring inside two minutes against the Socceroos to record the fastest goal of his incredible career

‘When you are playing the world champions like that it’s obviously a good learning curve for a lot of people,’ Arnold said.

‘Obviously, we started the game poorly. I thought it was a foul, I don’t know if it was or not.

‘It’s a learning experience for the young players that have probably never played in this type of environment before and I thought they handled the occasion.

‘After the first 10 minutes, I thought we did very well.

‘Overall, the most pleasing thing is there’s some kids coming and we’ve just got to expose them and give them the opportunity to be exposed against this type of opposition.

‘I know losing an international fixture is not fantastic, I’m a bad loser, but at the end of the day I couldn’t be prouder of the boys.’

Australia also paid tribute to 1974 World Cup coach Rale Rasic, who died on June 8.