World Cup

Bruno Fernandes: 'I've no issues with Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo'

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 18 November 2022

Fernandes: 'I've no issues with Portugal teammate Ronaldo'

Bruno Fernandes insists that he has no issues with Portugal and Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo after the forward launched a scathing attack on their club.

Bruno Fernandes has insisted that he has no issues with Portugal and Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.

On Sunday night, snippets of an interview emerged where Ronaldo launched an extraordinary attack on head coach Erik ten Hag, the Glazer Family and several other topics involving the Red Devils.

United are said to have been left disappointed by the lengthy interview given to Piers Morgan, the Premier League giants allegedly only discovering that Ronaldo had spoken to the journalist minutes before portions of it were published.

In the days that have followed, Ronaldo was shown linking up with his national team for the upcoming World Cup where he was involved in an exchange with Fernandes.

Although it has since been played down, the pair appeared to 'frostily' shake hands with Ronaldo momentarily looking bemused at whatever was said by his compatriot.

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo during training on November 14, 2022 © Reuters

Nevertheless, Fernandes has stated that there are no problems between the pair as they each look to focus on representing Portugal in Qatar.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Fernandes said: "I didn't read the interview so I'm OK with that. As I said before, now it's the national team, it's Portugal. The coach made a point that it's us, he made that point since I came with the national team in 2017.

"That is still clear, that in his mind the main thing here is the national team and us so we have to be focused on the World Cup.

"You don't have a chance to play a World Cup many times - Cristiano did really well to play five times, this will be his fifth time - so everyone is ready for that, everyone wants to give their best for the team."

Bruno Fernandes in action for Manchester United on October 9, 2022 © Reuters

When pushed further on Ronaldo's recent actions, Fernandes reiterated that he intended to ignore any matters involving United until after the upcoming international tournament.

He added: "This is the national team, Manchester United will be my focus after the World Cup, after December 18, because that is the final.

"I have no problem with anyone. I do my job. You have to control yourself, give your best and that's it."

Portugal were in action on Thursday evening as they prevailed by a 4-0 scoreline against Nigeria in a World Cup warm-up fixture, Fernandes scoring two of the goals for the 2016 European champions.