They might be the biggest boy band on the planet but even One Direction get starstruck every once in a while. Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson had a kickabout with some of the world's best footballers including Cristiano Ronaldo, the boyfriend of Russian model Irina Shayk, while in Madrid on Thursday. "Up there with some of the best days of my life," guitarist Niall tweeted after meeting the team. "Training with Real Madrid! Dreams are made of that stuff."
Liam used the opportunity to take tips from the pros tweeting to Cristiano, who he names as his favourite player, "Had a great time man thanks for the lesson in free kicks ha." "Can't believe what has just happened," tweeted an awestruck Louis. "Such an amazing day for us! All these opportunities are only possible because of you guys. We love you." Cristiano, who was famously sold to Real Madrid for a world record £80million in 2009, was equally impressed by his brush with fame. "Nice to meet @onedirection today," he wrote.
The pop trio were invited to train alongside Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid squad underneath the blazing Spanish sun. Despite being on a tight schedule as they tour Europe, the boys made time for the world class players. After a brief stint on the pitch, the three bandmates enjoyed a meet and greet with manager Jose Mourinho and were presented with Real Madrid shirts.
It's not the first time that One Direction have brushed up on their ball skills. In April they challenged Newcastle United's squad to a football match. Spending their time on the ground with Tulisa Contostavlos's beau Danny Simpson and Ryan Taylor, the group enjoyed a football match with the Premiership League squad at their training ground, St James' Park. Treating One Direction fans to a picture of a post-match shirtless Harry Styles, Danny struck up a bond with the What Makes You Beautiful singer. "Proper safe guy Harry Styles," said Danny.
Off of the pitch, the boys have a gruelling schedule on the Take Me Home tour which will see them travel as far as Mexico, Australia and Japan. One Direction mania has hit the Spanish capital already despite the boys not playing their gig until Friday night. After playing the two gigs in Madrid they will travel to Lisbon, Portugal and Istanbul, Turkey before enjoying a well earned week's rest before heading to Mexico to begin the American 130-night tour. If fans have missed out this time, there will be another opportunity to see the five-piece in action again in the near future. Keeping their fans on their toes with an online countdown, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis, Niall and Liam on 16 May announced that they would be playing a worldwide stadium tour next year named after their new album, Where We Are. Revealing the news on their exclusive website, www.onebigannouncement.com, the website received landmark traffic, resulting in the domain crashing at the moment the news was to be announced.