Why Fernandes, and not Ronaldo, is now Portugal's most important player
Cristiano Ronaldo may have claimed the goal was his, but after going through the footage with a fine tooth comb, Portugal's opener against Uruguay was awarded to Bruno Fernandes. The Manchester United man put a perfectly weighted cross into the box early in the second half that ended up sneaking past Sergio Rochet to put Portugal ahead.
Fernandes then bagged his and Portugal's second deep into second half injury time as he calmly tucked past Rochet from 12 yards. The penalty shouldn't have been given, but Fernandes won't have minded as his goal from the spot ended any hopes of a Uruguay fightback. To go with his pair of assists in the 3-2 win over Ghana, Fernandes has now been directly involved in four of Portugal's five goals at the 2022 World Cup.
After a disappointing Euro 2020 that saw Portugal crash out at the last-16 stage, there is plenty of pressure on the Selecao to go all the way in Qatar. They have a quality squad with ample options across all areas on the pitch, and even the hubbub surrounding Ronaldo in the lead up to the tournament, which may have derailed their campaign altogether, Portugal on Monday night were the third team to progress to the last-16 behind France and Brazil.
In the weeks leading up to the tournament, Ronaldo made much of the narrative about himself as he sought to make history in Qatar by becoming the first player to score in five different World Cups on their path to glory. And to his credit, Ronaldo achieved that feat with his second half penalty against Ghana, writing his name into the record books, and after a fine Euro 2020 campaign, that was expected to be the start of what promised to be a fine World Cup for the experienced striker.
Ronaldo won the Golden Boot last summer with five goals to his name and earned a better WhoScored rating (7.92) than any other player at Euro 2020, and with the creative personnel in support, the 37-year-old was expected to build upon that return in Portugal's pursuit of the World Cup. And yet, despite mustering seven shots across his two appearances this month, Ronaldo has hit the back of the net just the once. Previously viewed as the main man for Portugal, it's feasible to suggest that he is no longer viewed as the Selecao's head honcho.
While Ronaldo was the best rated player at Euro 2020, Fernandes earned a WhoScored rating of 6.24 at the European Championship, that lower than any other Portugal player to register at least 50 minutes of acttion. Fast forward to Qatar 2022, and Fernandes' WhoScored rating is currently 8.36 after Portugal's opening two games, that far and away the best for Fernando Santos' side, and the third best at the World Cup.
The roles have reversed and there is now less furore surrounding Ronaldo as Portugal's main man, with Fernandes taking over the mantle in Qatar. Of course, there has been an element of fortune over his impressive WhoScored rating, particularly surrounding the late penalty against Uruguay earlier this week, but it's certainly deserved for Fernandes.
While a smaller sample size, it's a stark contrast to his Manchester United form, but this may in turn be due to the personnel on the international stage compared to at club level. Indeed, the calibre of the outlets in the final third are an improvement than at United. Joao Felix and Rafael Leao are better wide outlets than those at Erik Ten Hag's disposal, so while Fernandes has only created three goalscoring opportunities at the World Cup, he already has more assists at the World Cup (2) than he does in the Premier League (1) this season. They were for both Felix and Leao to score against Ghana.
He's also proving far more adept at retaining the ball, which has at times been a critique of his, with his pass success rate rising from 77.8% to 88.9%, while the number of passes per 90 he attempts has increased to 54.0 from 47.2. Again, it's a small sample size, yet with an improvement in the standard of teammates, it's no wonder he is able to pick out a Portugal player with greater regularity.
The issue is how does Santos truly incorporate the raft of midfield talent into his XI. Fernandes started the win over Ghana on the right flank, with Felix on the left in support of Ronaldo, and Bernardo Silva, Ruben Neves and Otavio used in the midfield three. However, it wasn't until Fernandes dropped deeper than he became far more influential on the game, with two of three key passes being played from midfield, and of course both assists coming once Leao had come on and Santos had tinkered with the system.
Against Uruguay, Fernandes played in the number 10 role and it was here where supporters witnessed to more trigger-happy version of the midfielder, as he mustered six shots in the position, and didn't make a key pass. Either way, finding a system that brings out the best in Fernandes, and not Ronaldo, in Qatar is arguably Portugal's best chance of a first World Cup in their history. In the wake of the latter's United exit, the former is now his club side's most important attacking player. At an international level, that is now also the case.
