As Cristiano Ronaldo smashed another record, Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes had a night to forget as Portugal conceded a last-minute equaliser in World Cup qualifying
Portuguese media have raised concerns about the condition of Bruno Fernandes after the Manchester United star picked up a ban in Portugal’s draw with Hungary. Despite Cristiano Ronaldo setting a new record for World Cup qualifying goals, the Group F leaders’ hopes of sealing a spot at next year’s tournament with two games to spare were dashed by an added-time leveller from Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai in a 2-2 draw.
Portuguese media have raised concerns about the condition of Bruno Fernandes after the Manchester United star picked up a ban in Portugal’s draw with Hungary. Despite Cristiano Ronaldo setting a new record for World Cup qualifying goals, the Group F leaders’ hopes of sealing a spot at next year’s tournament with two games to spare were dashed by an added-time leveller from Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai in a 2-2 draw.
Local media were not impressed by Fernandes, with Renascenca saying that he, along with Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva, showed some “physical fatigue,” which is not what Ruben Amorim will want to hear ahead of United’s showdown at Liverpool on Sunday.
Meanwhile, A Bola gave him a rating of 6/10, saying he had little influence on the game. They commented: “He hit the post once in the second half, but that was perhaps the only time he managed to find space in the central corridor. For this reason, he often appeared close to the line, especially on the left, but without gaining any influence.”
The rest of the team received marks of between five and seven, apart from Ronaldo, who got 8/10. Fernandes felt Portugal were guilty of allowing the game to become too stretched after he had gone off.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “We entered their game in the last 30 minutes, a transitional game, and we opened up the field a lot. We were controlling the game well, pinning them back and creating opportunities. Suddenly, we started to enter that transitional game that didn’t benefit us.
“Our strength is possessing the ball, pinning teams back. Even if it’s difficult to find the goal, as it was against Ireland [Portugal won 1-0 with a late winner], it’s always better to possess the ball, create our own opportunities than to open up the field, playing a game of attacking transitions, which ended up being beneficial for them.
“Hungary is very strong on set pieces, transitions and second balls. With space, they can create danger, and that’s what happened. We also have to give credit to what they did.”
Despite the setback, qualifying should still be a formality for Portugal, who lead second-placed Hungary by five points with two games left.
Fernandes added: “If we go to the World Cup, we’ll still be favourites, like all the teams that will be there, because they’ll all have a chance to win the World Cup, regardless of their level of prominence.
“Our goal is to qualify first, and then we’ll think about the World Cup. But this doesn’t affect what we can do as a team. Every game serves as a learning experience for the next, whether you win or lose.
“We played against a team with a very low block, and it was difficult to find space to finish, but we were able to win the game and we have to do it again to reach the World Cup.”
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