Fernandes: 'I'm happy as if the goal belongs to Ronaldo'

"I'm happy as if it belongs to Cristiano Ronaldo. I cross the ball with the intention of letting him score. With strikers like him or Andre Silva, the goal means more," Fernandes said of the opening goal in The match at Lusail Stadium.

In the 54th minute, from a position on the left wing, Fernandes clicked on the penalty area for Ronaldo to escape, bounced up and made a header to put the ball into Uruguay's goal. Portugal's captain striker then ran to the corner of the field to celebrate the opening goal with Fernandes.

However, after reviewing the video, the referee determined that Ronaldo did not touch the ball, so he counted the goal for Fernandes.

In the third minute of injury time, Portugal was awarded a penalty because a Uruguayan player let his hand touch the ball when he leaned over to tackle Fernandes. At this point, Ronaldo had left the field, and the task was given to Fernandes. With the familiar flute dance, the 28-year-old midfielder shot to the left corner to distract goalkeeper Sergio Rochet.

According to Fernandes, which player scores is not as important as Portugal winning and winning tickets to the 1/8 round early one round.

With a brace against Uruguay, Fernandes was directly involved in four of Portugal's five goals in Qatar. In the opening match against Ghana 3-2, the midfielder on the Man Utd payroll created two goals. That match, Ronaldo opened the scoring from the 11m mark.

Uruguay used to be a pain for Portugal. In the eighth round of the 2018 World Cup, they themselves eliminated Ronaldo and his teammates with a 2-1 victory. Center-back Pepe was the only scorer of the European team that day, interspersed with a brace by Edinson Cavani.

According to Pepe, Portugal is more mature now than it was four years ago. He believes that the team has more excellent individuals and better ball control. "Uruguay was close, but we reacted well. We were dominant in the second half," said the former Real midfielder.

Another Portuguese centre-back, Ruben Dias also appreciated the victory over Uruguay. According to the Man City star, Uruguay is a great team and it is important that Portugal know how to control the opponent.

Portugal got six points from two games, three points ahead of Ghana, while South Korea and Uruguay only won one point. They are also better than Ghana by difference (+3 versus 0). Therefore, Portugal only needs to draw, or lose to Korea with an acceptable score, in the last round, it can also lead Group H.

If entering the 1/8 round as the top of Group H, Portugal can avoid Brazil. According to the rules, the winner of Group H will play the second place team of Group G, and vice versa. Brazil is leading Group G with six points from two games, three points ahead of Switzerland. However, midfielder Joao Palhinha is not shy even against Brazil: "We have an excellent squad with many different qualities. Teams have to think in the same way, meaning they will face a team. very strong and a country that is hungry for titles."