Portugal playmaker Bruno Fernandes has spoken about the assist Cristiano Ronaldo provided for him.in their 3-0EURO 2024 group-stage win over Turkey. The legendary Portuguese striker might have gone for goal himself but opted to provide a pass for Fernandes to score into the open net.
It was a comprehensive win for the Selecao, as the Turks proved to be no match. However, Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to open his account at EURO 2024, something he has done in five consecutive editions of the tournament.
Ronaldo’s decision to lay on the ball for Fernandes instead of putting it past the goalkeeper himself led to the Manchester United midfielder hailing his captain’s selfless decision (via O Jogo):
“After that goal came more images of Cristiano to watch and one of them went to Quaresma in 2012. In a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, any forward in the world has his focus on scoring, but that decision for him was the right one.
“If I had decided to kick, the goal nets would be swinging anyway. The most important thing for everyone is for Portugal to win, and Cristiano wants the team to succeed so that individuals stand out.”
Portugal face Slovenia in their EURO 2024 Round of 16 clash on Monday (July 1) where Cristiano Ronaldo will look to open his account.
Former teammate criticises Cristiano Ronaldo after Portugal’s EURO 2024 loss to Georgia
Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t meet expectations as Portugal fell to a 2-0 loss to Georgia in their final EURO 2024 group game. The legendary forward ended the game with a yellow card, while also getting substituted.
Wayne Rooney, who was teammates with Ronaldo at Manchester United, criticised the legendary forward for his poor peformance on The Rest is Football podcast (via Newcastle World):
“It’s like the whole game he was angry. He was angry at the referee, was angry at his teammates for not passing the ball. When he went off he kicked something in disgust.
“He must be quite tough to manage. I still watch his movement, he’s so sharp in the box. It’s not happened for him yet though, you can see the frustration.”
The forward will look to come alive in the Euro 2024 knockouts as Portugal seek a second European Championship title, having won their first in 2016.
