Cristiano Ronaldo has shown exactly why Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes will now be able to thrive in his absence for the Portugal national team.
The 41-year-old Manchester United legend finds himself in no-man’s land after he dominated the narrative for Portugal during the October international break.
It no longer became about Portugal’s Nations League campaign, but more so the battle between Ronaldo and the country’s post-World Cup manager, Jorge Jesus.
Ronaldo quit the national team after he drove a wedge between himself and Portugal boss Jorge Jesus over his role within the national team going forward.
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All of Bruno Fernandes’ Man Utd strengths will manifest for Portugal in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest attempt to damage control the situation has seen him drop a bombshell statement about why he walked away from the national team. The former Manchester United superstar accused Jorge Jesus of walking back on his promises over how he would use him for Portugal.
While Ronaldo has now become the ‘villain’ for some people with his antics, Bruno Fernandes has been trying to navigate the situation involving his former Man Utd teammate. Fernandes has spoken out about Ronaldo and carefully offered his two cents on the controversy that recently engulfed the Portugal camp.
Either way, Fernandes has already benefited from Ronaldo’s self-destruction after Man Utd’s former No 7 put the captain’s armband on him directly in the Wales match last month. Ronaldo did at least one thing right in the aforementioned situation by giving the current Man Utd captain the armband before he was subbed off in the second half.
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Fernandes can climb out of Ronaldo’s large shadow for the Portugal national team — finally, it should be added — and transfer all his Man Utd qualities to Jesus’ side. Ronaldo’s place in the Portugal squad always saw Fernandes play second fiddle in so many different ways, including penalties, free-kicks and the captaincy.
Fernandes has been the key for United when it comes to dangerous set-pieces and the 32-year-old Portuguese midfielder has delivered from free-kicks and penalties. Portugal had become all too predictable from free-kicks at least and there would only be a rare handful of times when Ronaldo would step truly aside for them.
Fernandes can absorb the pressure of playing for Portugal in the same way as he has done for United and is more than capable of filling the void left behind by an ageing Ronaldo. Whether Ronaldo returns to Portugal or not is a whole different matter, but at least Fernandes now has the chance to shine further in his absence.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/76Tbfe8