FIFA World Cup 2018: Meet the men who will shield Cristiano Ronaldo from ISIS threats

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Moscow, June 5: After receiving numerous death threats from ISIS and other terror outfits, Real Madrid and Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has beefed up his personal security. The Portugal star has appointed a strongman who fights bulls with his bare hands and an MMA fighter ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2018.

FIFA WC 2018 Special Page

Earlier terrorist organisation ISIS, in a chilling morphed up photo, threatened that if the player arrives in Russia for the World Cup, he will be beheaded.

The offensive picture, released on the Telegram app, captioned: "Your blood will fill the ground," showed extremists mangling at Ronaldo's heads in a packed football stadium.

Therefore to prevent himself from such a threat, the Portugal captain now has employed the two personnel to provide close protection for him during the tournament.

Ronaldo has enlisted the services of Nuno Marecos, who likes to keep himself in shape by grappling with bulls, and MMA fighter Goncalo Salgado, who has protected star surfers like Kelly Slater and Gabriel Medina.

Strongman Nuno Marecos is a former elite commando, who in his leisure time involves himself and his team in bullfights. Marecos has a team of eight men and they fight bulls with bare hands which is a popular game in the town of Chamusca - a 70-mile drive from Lisbon.

The team led by the former soldier forms a line allowing the bull to come forward. They risk injury and death by cheering it to charge them before grabbing hold of the animal and attempting to defeat it using their combined force. However, the animals are not killed in front of the crowd.

Marecos, along with former MMA fighter, Goncalo Salgado, will be seen at the World Cup protecting Portugal's star striker. The 6-feet and 2-inch fighter in his MMA fighting career has won seven fights with five KOs and lost two as a super heavyweight between 2006 and 2011. Now, he has committed himself only to the security job.

Both the bodyguards are on the books of a Portuguese private security firm run by an ex-spy and were last seen with Ronaldo during Madrid's Uefa Champions League final victory.

Ronaldo who was holidaying with his family in Marbella missed Portugal’s last warm-up friendly draw against Belgium at Brussels last Saturday. However, the 32-year-old now has joined his team and is expected to participate this Thursday, when his they host Algeria at home in an international friendly.