Herd of cows gallop on to the field in the Copa Perú

Pitch-invaders are not uncommon in football, with streakers, protesters and giddy fans all having galloped on to the pitch to disrupt the flow of a match over the years. They’re not always human either. Animal interlopers number among them cats, dogs, foxes, birds, rabbits and rodents.

But cows on the turf are not such a regular sight. Particularly in a national cup competition.

In the Copa Perú – a series of league tournaments that offer the winner and runner-up promotion to the nation’s first and second divisions – a match between Minsa FBC and Expreso Inambari in the rural south-east was brought to a halt by cattle from a neighbouring field.

Perhaps the overgrown pitch –the substandard facilities is evidence of the lack of investment in the deprived regions – invited the cows on, or maybe they were just excited. Either way, with the help of some dogs, they were soon shooed away and the match was able to resume.

For other tales of animals on the pitch read our Knowledge archive – here and here – and have a look at this Joy of Six too.