Portugal winger Joao Mario insisted there is no rift between Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes despite their awkward-looking handshake when meeting up for Portugal duty ahead of the World Cup.
He has played the situation down as banter and described Ronaldo as “quite fine” with the team preparing for their Group H opener with Ghana on November 24. The seemingly sheepish meeting was the first time a Manchester United player had been seen greeting the 37-year-old since Sunday’s bombshell interview clips were released.
Many fans mooted that Fernandes had acted coyly as a result of Ronaldo's comments about the club, but Mario claimed that the pair in fact were sharing a joke and that Ronaldo was "focused" on the World Cup. “He [Ronaldo] is always happy when he’s with the national team,” he told reporters.
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“I’ve seen yesterday he’s quite fine as always and as he said before for him it’s always a pleasure to be here. He’s totally focused on the national team and for sure he’s going to be a big help for us in this World Cup.”
Speaking about the interaction between Ronaldo and Fernandes which has gone viral, he added: "I was in the locker room at that moment, I saw pictures. It was a joke between them. Bruno Fernandes was one of the last to arrive. Cristiano asked: 'Did you come by boat?'”
Several pundits have criticised the timing of Ronaldo’s interview with Morgan, with snippets published just hours after United’s 2-1 win over Fulham. Among them is Jamie Carragher who branded it “bizarre” and “bang out of order”.
But Mario said he had no issue with the timing, suggesting the limelight is always centred on Ronaldo regardless. “For us it’s the same, the headlines are always about him so for us it’s quite the same,” he explained. "So I don’t see a problem with the timing because everyone always speaks about Cristiano Ronaldo so it’s fine for us.”
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