Posted: 00:21, 15 November 2022 | Updated: 06:08, 15 November 2022
Cristiano Ronaldo’s extremely heated clash with Manchester United appears to have spilled over into the Portugal national team with Bruno Fernandes offering him a much less friendly greeting than one might expect.
The Portuguese captain grabbed all the headlines last day after an incendiary interview with Piers Morgan that was given to the public on Sunday and Monday evenings.
In the interview, among other claims, Ronaldo said he had no “respect” for current United manager Erik ten Hag, while also taking aim at the club’s facilities and their place in the football league – claiming they had fallen below Liverpool and Manchester. City. He also expressed his belief that he had been “betrayed” by the club.
A clip released on Monday night saw Ronaldo claim Gary Neville had used him to boost his own profile.
Bruno Fernandes entered the dressing room and tried to avoid Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portugal captain wanted to salute his club and international team-mate, however, before they head to Qatar.
Fernandes, United’s de-facto anti-captain, appeared to have taken issue with the interview as he greeted Ronaldo with some degree of composure after linking up with the national team on Monday.
In the clip, released on Portugal’s social media channels and showing each of the 26 players arriving ahead of this week’s World Cup with Qatar-Ecuador on Sunday, Fernandes can be seen walking past Ronaldo.
Fernandes put an arm around Ronaldo as he walked past him to put his bag in the locker next to him, before trying to walk away to face the rest of the dressing room.
Fernandes duly accepted Ronaldo’s offer of a handshake before saying something that left the unruly forward looking slightly confused
Ronaldo clearly extended his hand first – which Fernandes, after a brief second of seemingly wondering if he should take it, meets his own before saying something and walking away.
The reckless forward stood there and seemed to wonder why he had just snubbed his club and international team-mate.
Reacting to the video on social media, most supporters seemed to side with Fernandes.
Fernandes appeared to have taken offense to the star’s recent interview with Piers Morgan
“You could see it in Ronaldo’s face. Bruno is a real player/team leader and he’s not going to let Ronaldo take a dump on his club/coach/teammates without giving him his brains,” noted one.
“Another looming problem with the Ronaldo interview is the situation he has put both [Diogo] Dalot and Bruno enter. Such an unnecessary and inconvenient situation,” wrote another.
Meanwhile, another added: “Ronaldo seems to be really confused as to why Bruno Fernandes can be a bit cold towards him.”
After a – very – brief exchange, Fernandes turned to greet his other international teammates
Taking one more look at Ronaldo with a smile etched on his face, Fernandes turned away
Another noted the dynamic of the exchange, writing: “Bruno wasn’t going to shake hands unless Ronaldo was reaching out and clearly had his face down. [throughout]which clearly means he wasn’t interested in shaking hands if Ronaldo didn’t reach out.’
Another said that Fernandez’s actions only endeared them more. “Bruno beat me this season. His performances have been classy and this is even better,” they wrote.
“Bruno is all of us. What a guy!’ wrote another.
“Bruno hates him,” wrote another unevenly.
However, support for Fernandes was not unanimous. “Bruno Fernandez channeling Cristiano Ronaldo in the locker room will not go unnoticed by me,” one fan wrote. “I’ll wait for you at the airport, Bruno.”
It now remains to be seen whether the two players, neither of whom have an ego, can improve their relationship to ensure Portugal’s World Cup campaign gets off to a flying start.
Portugal begin their campaign against Ghana on November 24 before facing Uruguay, who knocked them out of the 2018 edition, on November 28. Their Group H campaign concludes with a match against South Korea on December 2.
