A boy from Syria who told rescue workers after a devastating earthquake in February that he wanted to meet Cristiano Ronaldo came face to face with his idol on Friday after being invited to watch his club Al Nassr play in Saudi Arabia.

Besiktas fans threw thousands of stuffed toys onto the pitch during Sunday's match against Antalyaspor to donate to children impacted by the earthquake in Turkey and neighbouring Syria.

The phase of the rescue after the major earthquake struck Turkey and Syria a week ago is “coming to a close” with urgency now switching to shelter, food, schooling and psychosocial care, the UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said during a visit to Syria yesterday.

The toll from last week's earthquake in Turkey and Syria rose above 35,000 on Monday, as rescue teams started to wind down the search for survivors and the aid effort shifted to hundreds of thousands of people made homeless

Aid agencies, both the Turkish and Syrian governments, and the rebel groups must all work together.