Portuguese media have expressed worries about Bruno Fernandes’ fitness after the Manchester United midfielder received a suspension during Portugal’s stalemate with Hungary. Although Cristiano Ronaldo achieved a fresh milestone for World Cup qualifying strikes, the Group F frontrunners’ ambitions of securing their place at next year’s competition with two matches remaining were thwarted by a stoppage-time equaliser from Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai in a 2-2 stalemate.
Ronaldo had previously scored twice to establish himself as the most prolific scorer in World Cup qualifiers with 41 goals, surpassing Guatemalan forward Carlos Ruiz, who managed 39 qualifying strikes during his career. However, whilst Ronaldo was destined for another remarkable achievement, it proved a disappointing evening for Fernandes, who received a yellow card, excluding him from Portugal’s second-to-last qualifier against Ireland in Dublin. He was later withdrawn after 62 minutes.
Local media were unimpressed by Fernandes’ display, with Renascenca reporting that he, alongside Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva, displayed signs of “physical fatigue,” which will hardly please Ruben Amorim before United’s game against Liverpool on Sunday.
Furthermore, A Bola awarded him a 6/10 rating, stating he exerted minimal impact on proceedings.
They observed: “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 remainder of the squad earned ratings ranging from five to seven, with the exception of Ronaldo, who secured 8/10.
Fernandes believed Portugal were at fault for permitting the match to become overly open after his substitution.
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, 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 disappointment, qualification ought to remain straightforward for Portugal, who maintain a five-point advantage over second-placed Hungary with two matches remaining.