Amateur body language experts had a field day with the brief interaction between Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes when they met up with the Portugal squad in Lisbon last week.
There didn't look to be a huge deal of warmth in the greeting after Ronaldo's explosive interview with Piers Morgan had been trailed on social media and if Fernandes has paid any attention to the full conversation then the temperature between the two is likely to be sub-zero now.
In one of the most revealing comments of what was essentially a PR exercise, Ronaldo was asked who he admires in the Manchester United dressing room and the absence of Fernandes' name felt instructive.
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Ronaldo named just three of his teammates, reserving the most praise for Diogo Dalot, and plenty of United players will be disappointed they weren't included. But Fernandes has constantly gone out of his way to defend Ronaldo at Old Trafford, despite it being increasingly obvious he is a better player when the 37-year-old isn't in the team.
Fernandes has become the de-facto captain at United this season, with Harry Maguire out of the team, and it would be no surprise if he was personally and professionally angry at Ronaldo's petty score-settling, destabilising a dressing room that has looked more united this season and criticising a manager who has won over the rest of the squad.
But just because they have a shared nationality and history with Sporting, it doesn't make them similar characters and that was proven with their takes on the Qatar World Cup this week. It is inescapable that this tournament is hugely controversial and the issues around the deaths of migrant workers, human rights abuses and the LGBTQ+ community aren't going to go away, no matter how hard you put your fingers in your ears.
That was the approach Ronaldo took when quizzed by Morgan, although he forgot the journalistic principle of asking open-ended questions and essentially asked his subject if he agreed with him that it was time to talk about the football. Ronaldo's praise for Qatar for being "prepared" to host a good tournament felt out of step with a lot of his fellow professionals.
It's important to remember that for players this is still the highlight of a career, but they can also savour the football of a World Cup while using their status to shine a light on what are some important issues in the host country. Fernandes did that last week when asked about the tournament after United's 2-1 win at Fulham.
"Of course it's strange [the World Cup starting next week]," Fernandes admitted, speaking to Sky Sports. "It's not exactly the time we want to be playing in the World Cup.
"I think for everyone, players and fans, it's not the best time. Kids will be at school, people will be working and the timings will not be the best for people to watch the games.
"We know the surroundings of the World Cup, what has been in the past few weeks, past few months, about the people that have died on the construction of the stadiums. We are not happy about that at all.
"We want football to be for everyone, everyone has to be included and involved in a World Cup because a World Cup is the world. It's for everyone, it doesn't matter who.
"These kind of things I think should not happen at any time. But for a World Cup it's more than football, it's a party for fans, players, something that's a joy to watch, [it] should be done in a better way."
Fernandes won plenty of praise for those comments and they were pitched perfectly. This was exactly the tone many players have been setting. They know they cannot hide away from these issues and nor should they.
Ronaldo's refusal to criticise Qatar felt particularly poor in that respect. Given his standing in the game, any hint of criticism, or support for migrant workers or LGBTQ+ fans would have been important. Instead, he couldn't risk diminishing his brand. This PR stunt was about taking aim at United, not using his platform for any other issues.
Those comments show the difference between Fernandes and Ronaldo and why one is essentially United's captain this season and the other is reduced to going on talk shows to savage his own club.
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