Bruno Fernandes has never been more welcome in the Portuguese national squad.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s typically selfish walkout has given the Portugal national team a taste of what Manchester United experienced in 2022.
Ronaldo’s departure from the squad piled extra pressure on Bruno Fernandes, who had missed the previous international game due to injury.
Bruno Fernandes stepped up and did what he does best, providing two assists in a 4-2 win for his country against Rasmus Hojlund’s Denmark. Diogo Dalot even provided an assist too for Portugal’s fourth.
Unsurprisingly the reaction in Portugal was positive towards the Manchester United captain’s performance, who was named as UEFA’s Man of the Match.
Bruno Fernandes performance praised
Mais Futebol praised the way Portugal’s team stepped up and delivered, writing: “In their first game after Ronaldo’s departure, Portugal delivered a tremendous display of quality, showing they can perfectly live without the star. Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, and Gonçalo Ramos spread magic.”
Portuguese outlet GoalPoint rated Fernandes as Portugal’s best player, awarding him a 7.8 rating. They added: “A great collective performance from the national team, with Goncalo Ramos and Bruno Fernandes in top form.”
This was a pick-me-up for Portugal at a moment their coach Jorge Jesus needed it. He is only three games into his reign since replacing Roberto Martinez in the summer, and he has shown more courage to deal with the Ronaldo situation than his predecessor.
Jesus made clear that it was up to Ronaldo to adapt to life as a squad player, and the 41-year-old decided not to do so.
He told his press conference, via Record: “The team collectively believes in what they do. For me, this was the best game so far, which is normal because we’ve had more time to work. I managed to work on positional attack. Goncalo Ramos’ goal is a great positional attack goal.”
Fernandes provided the assist for Ramos’ strike with an incisive pass to open up a one-v-one for the AC Milan striker.
The Manchester United maestro was selected to wear the captain’s armband, another show of faith from his manager. Portugal have one game remaining this international break, facing Denmark on Sunday.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/GJotS3a