Bruno Fernandes was seen in a rather frosty awkward meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portugal squad meet for the Qatar World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s bombshell interview about Manchester United appears to have spilled over into the Portuguese national team with Bruno Fernandes offering him a much less friendly greeting than might be expected.
The Portugal captain has grabbed most of the headlines in the 24 hours after a tell all with Piers Morgan was drip fed to the public over Sunday and Monday evenings.
Bruno Fernandes gives Cristiano Ronaldo a frosty reception as Portugal meet for the World Cup. pic.twitter.com/W5rDdMirc8
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 15, 2022
In the interview, among other claims, Ronaldo said he didn’t ‘respect’ current Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag while also taking aim at the club’s facilities and their place in the football pecking order – claiming they had fallen below the likes of Liverpool and Man City. He also expressed a belief that he had been ‘betrayed’ by the club.
Fernandes appeared to have taken issue with the interview as he greeted Ronaldo but boy did it get rather awkward after linking up with the national side on Monday.
In the footage uploaded to social media, it shows each of the 26 players arriving ahead of the World Cup which kicks off this week with Qatar-Ecuador on Sunday, Fernandes can walks past Ronaldo.
Fernandes then places an arm on Ronaldo as he walked past him to put his bag down in the locker next to his before trying to turn away to face the rest of the dressing room.
Ronaldo is seen offering out his hand first – which Fernandes, after a brief second of seemingly wondering whether he should accept it, meets with his own before saying something to him and turning away.
The forward was left standing there seemingly confused at being snubbed by his club and international team-mate.
Reacting to the clip on social media, most supporters appeared to take the side of Fernandes.
You can see just some of the stuff Ronaldo had to say to Piers Morgan by clicking HERE.
Following Cristiano Ronaldo’s interview where he criticised Manchester United and Erik ten Hag, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher discusses why the club should sack the 37-year-old and that there is no way back.
He said to via the Sky Sports website: “This was always going to happen. It was always going to end like this. That’s exactly why I said 18 months ago: it was a massive mistake for Manchester United to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to the club.
“I just thought the comments [revealed on Sunday] were bizarre. They were bang out of order considering the timing of it: just hours after Manchester United fans being delighted after getting a winning goal at Fulham with the last kick of the game.
“It should give them excitement over the next month for when the league starts again. They should be enjoying themselves and then the Ronaldo interview comes out and boom – it’s about negativity. Not the team, not the manager – it’s about Cristiano Ronaldo. And it’s been like that since he’s come back. It’s basically been the Cristiano Ronaldo show.
“At times that’s been good on the pitch, last season he got a lot of goals. But this season he’s not involved and he’s craving the attention that he can’t get because he’s not on the pitch. The only way he’s going to do that is by causing trouble and that was exactly his intention with the interview.
“He wants to be sacked, that’s obvious. He told the club in the summer that he wanted to leave, which is football – these things happen. There were no takers, maybe because of his wages or the price Manchester United wanted. I think he knows that’s going to be the same in this next transfer window and maybe the following summer and he is now trying to be sacked or wants to leave on a free. That’s the only way he’s going to get out.
“I think they should sack him” ❌
Jamie Carragher says it was a ‘massive mistake’ signing Ronaldo and ‘this was always going to happen’ 😬 pic.twitter.com/4uHdkjfZGE
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 14, 2022
“And I think United should sack him or move him on by giving him a free transfer. At the moment, they’re trying to build something that is not trying to win the Premier League or the Champions League right now. The manager will want to push for those honours in the next two or three years and Ronaldo is not going to be around.
“He is going to be a distraction, this will not go away. As soon as a player comes out and says he doesn’t respect the manager, how is that going to work when he walks into the first day of the post-World Cup season? It can’t work that going forward – there will be people taking pictures, we will be asking about Ronaldo to the manager in interviews for Sky. United don’t need the hassle.
“I’m not sure where this disrespect from Erik ten Hag comes from, I don’t get it at all. If anything, he’s disrespecting United and Ten Hag.
“Ronaldo gets respect from everyone – no one can not respect Ronaldo for what he’s done. He’s the greatest player of all time and Erik ten Hag had that respect. But there was no respect going the other way.
“He wanted to leave, he has refused to come on as a sub, then he left the stadium before the Tottenham game finished and even did that in a pre-season game as well. Ten Hag even made him captain at Aston Villa a couple of weeks ago. I don’t get this lack of respect on either way but the Ronaldo is there for everyone to see.
“He couldn’t accept being a sub, which in some ways I admire because he’s got that drive and that’s what made him the great player he is. This was always going to blow up in United’s face and it was a mistake to bring him back in the first place.
“He wanted to leave, he asked to leave, that was his plan!” @rioferdy5 believes the club has failed to communicate properly with Ronaldo but @Carra23 does not agree at all! 😤 pic.twitter.com/y3KFISKx9F
— FIVE (@FIVEUK) November 14, 2022
“The manager has played an absolute blinder on how to deal with Ronaldo from day one. He’s not got him involved in too much, he’s disciplined him when he’s refused to come on which sends a message to the rest of the dressing room.
“And in some ways, while he’s a nightmare for United right now because it’s taken up all the focus when it should be on the team, Erik ten Hag can just sit back and let this play out and think: “I’ve done my job.”
“Ronaldo is hurting himself, and it’s not up to the club to do anything negative or the manager to say anything negative about him. He’s dug his own hole and the supporters aren’t daft.
“Ronaldo’s reputation will never be lost or ruined. It will be tainted slightly. You will never forget what Ronaldo was for Manchester United, certainly in that golden period in one of the best Premier League teams we’ve ever seen that won numerous league titles and the Champions League.
“He’s a legendary figure at Manchester United and when the dust settles, people will go back to that. There are legendary players who have left in the past and left clubs at different times for different reasons and it hasn’t been the exit that they wanted.
“But in time, people look back at the big picture. If you assess Ronaldo as an icon from the day he came to the day he leaves, there’s a lot more good than bad. Right now, people are emotional. Some United fans and maybe some people on social media want him to go. But he’s done so much for that football club that he will still have a great legacy.”
This is how social media reacted with Bruno Fernandes in a frosty awkward meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo as Portugal meet for the World Cup…
@JJT_MU_4Ever: You could see it on Ronaldo’s face. Bruno is a true team player/leader and he’s not going to let Ronaldo just take a dump on his club/manager/teammates without giving him a piece of his mind. @B_Fernandes8
@JIGGGA_MAN: Another impending problem with Ronaldo’s interview is the situation he’s put both Dalot and that fraud Bruno in… Such an unnecessary and awkward situation…
@Big_grandsonn: Bruno wasn’t going to shake hands if Ronaldo didn’t reach out, and he clearly had his face down all through, which clearly means he wasn’t interested in shaking hands if Ronaldo didn’t reach out
@MelbourneBlokee: Yeah Ronaldo has lost what he thought he had “friends”. For Bruno to almost blank him, is saying something..
@GuyFawk36047968: Love him so much more after that. Clearly is not happy with what he did
@MUFC85485107: Ronaldo will soon realise what a big mistake he’s made, attacking the current manager, his staff and man united players saying no one showed him sympathy when he was granted permission of one month off to spend time with his family. Ronaldo is a disgrace!
@IanMackDrummer: Ohhh lads!!!! Stone cold from Bruno 🙈😂
@Macauley_Wilson: All for it Bruno 👍
@Cueto2304: Bruno man 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🫶🏼 this guy is my fucking captain 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 #MUFC
@cianlynch_07: I think by the look on Ronaldos face he realises he fucked up massively
@utdshaq1: No hug, just a tap on the shoulder as he tries to go round him, ronaldo begs the handshake and then looks in shock as Bruno says somet and walks away. My fucking captain
@Liam_Murray39: Bruno went up even higher in my estimation for that. Proper man
@Iangiggzmort: And this is why we love Bruno. As passionate as they come and genuinely has love for the club 👌🏻
@sturae229: This is brilliant. You can say what you want about his theatrics on the pitch but Bruno knows what’s what
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