Bruno Fernandes defends Cristiano Ronaldo after Portugal’s WC exit, blasts FIFA for assigning Argentine referees

Portugal’s campaign at the FIFA World Cup 2022 ended after 0-1 loss to Morocco in the quarter-final on Saturday. Youssef En-Nesyri was the hero for Morocco as his goal in the 42nd minute proved to be the difference between the two teams. Morocco became the first African nation to reach the semi-final in the history of World Cup. They will now face off against France in the semi-final on Thursday, December 15.

Disappointment was writ large on the face of Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo who featured in the fifth World Cup of his career in a bid to win the coveted trophy for the first time for his country. The 37-year-old star footballer grabbed eyeballs for not being part of the starting XI for the second consecutive time in the knockout stage after being benched in the round of 16 against Switzerland. However, he played as a substitute in both games. Earlier reports of Ronaldo’s rift with Portugal manager Fernando Santos and the former threatening to leave Portugal World Cup squad, had surfaced in some media platforms.

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Ronaldo’s teammate Bruno Fernandes refuted the claims that the entire episode around Ronaldo had an impact on Portugal’s performance against Morocco.

“Maybe because of who he is, people click more often on news about him to see what it’s about,” Fernandes told Portugese media RTP3.

“But it was not for any of these reasons that the team did not go further in the World Cup. We simply could not beat Morocco,” he added.

However Fernandes blamed the match referee for Portugal’s disappointing exit. He pointed fingers at referee Facundo Tello, slamming the Argentine’s refereeing of the match.

“I’ll say what I have to say. It’s very strange to have a referee who still has their national team in the competition and we don’t have a Portuguese referee. Our referees officiate the Champions League, so they have the quality and level to be here. They [Argentine referees] don’t referee in the Champions League, they are not used to this type of game, they don’t have the pace for this.” said Fernandes.

“In the first half there is a clear penalty on me. Never in my life will I let myself fall over when I am alone in front of the goalkeeper and can shoot in a situation like that. The VAR checked and gave nothing. There were many times when the game was stopped and in the second half there should have been at least 15 or 20 minutes of added time,” he added.