Bruno Fernandes has admitted he thought Cristiano Ronaldo got a touch on his cross that opened the scoring in Portugal’s World Cup win over Uruguay.
The Selecao booked their place in the last-16 with a 2-0 win as Manchester United’s Fernandes scored both goals, according to the record books at least, with Ronaldo deemed to have not got a touch on the opener.
However, the midfielder initially believed his teammate had.
“I celebrated as if it had been Cristiano's goal,” Fernandes said after the match.
“It seemed to me that he had touched the ball, my goal was to put in a cross for him.
“Regardless, we are happy for the victory, if one scores or another.
“We know that Cristiano is a striker who looks for goals and it’s more significant for the strikers, as well as for Goncalo [Guedes], Andre [Silva]m, Rafael [Leao] and Joao [Felix]. But the most important thing is the objective achieved, which is to be in the next round.”
Ronaldo and Fernandes were seen joking after the final whistle with social media clips appearing to show the veteran striker gesturing to his head - as some thought he was claiming he touched the ball.
But he did not reference that particular moment in his post-match celebratory post to Instagram.
“We're in the last-16 of the World Cup!” Ronaldo posted online. “Great job team! Against a great opponent, we made our strength and quality count. Let's go! We are in the fight and our dream is still well alive! Come on, Portugal!”
