BRUNO FERNANDES SUFFERING AS CRISTIANO RONALDO TOLD HE'S CREATED A HUGE PROBLEM
Bruno Fernandes has emerged as one of the biggest losers of Cristiano Ronaldo’s continued domination of the Portugal team.
The current Manchester United star, a free-kick specialist, has had to stand and stare as his illustrious team-mate fires set-piece after set-piece over the bar at Euro 2024. Ronaldo is also ahead of Fernandes when it comes to penalties and saw one saved during extra-time against Slovenia, and then burst into tears.
The 39-year-old redeemed himself by scoring in the shootout, which Portugal won 3-0 to book a quarter-final showdown with France on Friday. But questions continued to be asked if Ronaldo is hogging the limelight too much in a team that is loaded with world-class talent.
Gary Linker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards have agreed it is time for Ronaldo to hand over some responsibility, or risk undermining their challenge for a second Euros crown.
“He’s got team-mates who are brilliant at free-kicks,” pointed out Shearer on The Rest Is Football podcast. Richards added: “It is hard to say to Ronaldo, ‘I’m taking free-kicks’.”
Regarding Ronaldo’s poor recent free-kick record, Lineker agreed: “It is almost impossible, despite the fact his record is something like one in 60 that he’s scored in tournaments.
“Bruno Fernandes is a better free-kick taker and a more varied free-kick taker than Ronaldo. So while he’s [Ronaldo] a massive strength, he can also be a weakness as well.
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“Nothing against Cristiano because what an unbelievable player. I was watching him and his movement in the box is absolutely perfect. He does it better than anybody else I’ve ever seen as a nine, the way he goes forward one way, then the other way. He does it with a sharpness.
“It’s more the ego side of him which is more of a weakness, probably for himself, Portugal and [head coach] Roberto [Martinez].
“As a manager, you know you’ve got someone whose powers are waning and he’s 39, but he’s still Cristiano Ronaldo. He’s a superstar. He is almost the most famous person on the planet, not just as a footballer.”
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2024-07-03T15:58:51Z dg43tfdfdgfd