Bruno Fernandes scores twice against Uruguay to remind Portugal fans that he is the player who can bring them the ultimate glory. What you should know about FIFA is the football World Cup, which you missed last night but want to talk intelligently about today at the office water cooler.
In January 2020, Bruno Fernandes signed for Manchester United. He already had his first Premier League Player of the Month award by March. He would become the first player to win all four of these awards simultaneously by December of that same year. He was undoubtedly flying.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Manchester United in the summer, just as he was about to make it his own. When Ronaldo is present, everything revolves around him, and Fernandes had to take a backseat.
The Portugal national team was experiencing the same thing. Ronaldo generally became the dominant focal point.
On Monday, however, Fernandes gave the impression of breaking out of the shadow of his superstar compatriot by scoring two goals in Portugal’s victory over Uruguay to secure their spot in the FIFA World Cup knockout stages in Qatar.
Because he played for Sporting, the club where the Portugal captain began his illustrious career before moving on to bigger things, his career has been inextricably linked to Ronaldo.
They play in very different ways. Ronaldo has a lot of speed, power, and ability to score goals. Fernandes is slithy, he controls the midfield, and he can whip in unbelievable crosses to create goals out of nothing.
Even though Ronaldo initially claimed the goal for himself, Fernandes was correctly credited with it later. It was one of those whipped crosses that flew past his head and into the back of the net.
He then, at that point, added one more with a final part stoppage time punishment prior to shaking the post seconds after the fact in his endeavor for a full go-around.
Throughout the game, Ronaldo received nearly all of the loudest cheers, as is customary. The Lusail stadium’s 88,0000 attendees were no different. However, Fernandes left the field content because he knew that the Portuguese team now had two big names on the biggest international stage.
Even though Ronaldo is one of Europe’s highest-scoring midfielders, Fernandes was forced to play a supporting role for him at United or Sporting.
Even though Fernandes refuses to take sides, he is aware that it is time to be the club’s No. 1 once more after Manchester United abruptly ended Ronaldo’s second stint at Old Trafford due to his harsh criticism of the club. On the biggest stage, he is also demonstrating his full potential.
His performance against Uruguay told the Portugal allies that while they obsess about Ronaldo and his abilities on the pitch, he’s the one who can truly convey what they truly care about.
Fernandes will hope that Portugal’s most successful World Cup will also be his second, compared to Ronaldo’s fifth.