Dallas [US], July 7 (ANI): Following his side’s FIFA World Cup exit in the round of 16, Portugal and Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes said that “the team is not at its best level” and the team could have secured a better result had they performed as well as they did in the first half.
Portugal, hailed as one of the favourites to finally lift the trophy, ended their FIFA World Cup journey, falling way short again, in the round of 16. A late Mikel Merino strike helped Spain clinch the quarterfinal spot with a 1-0 win in a match that was expected to feature goals, with the likes of Bruno, Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal and Cristiano Ronaldo featuring in the match.
Speaking after the match, Bruno said, as quoted by FIFA, “Obviously, we are sad. We came here with one goal: to win the whole thing. Unfortunately, we were not at our best level. I think we played better in the first half today, but in the second half we made the same mistake of defending too low on the pitch, giving the ball to them.”
“When this happens, sooner or later, you are going to concede a goal. Congratulations to Spain; they have quality, but I think that if we continued doing what we did in the first half, we could have had a better result,” he signed off.
Spain achieved a historic FIFA World Cup feat, becoming the first team ever to keep six consecutive clean sheets in the tournament.
Spanish goalie Unai Simon, who stood unbeaten for 90 minutes and helped his side register its fifth successive clean sheet of the tournament. Overall as well, this is Spain’s sixth successive FIFA WC clean sheet, with the streak dating back to the 2022 edition.
Unai has gone 609 minutes without conceding a goal in FIFA World Cup matches, extending his own record that he set during the clash against Austria, which ended in a 3-0 win for Spain.
Simon etched his name into FIFA World Cup history after setting a new record for the longest run without conceding a goal, leading La Roja into the last 16 with a commanding 3-0 victory over Austria.
According to Opta Jose, Simon has now gone 519 consecutive World Cup minutes without conceding, surpassing the previous record of 517 minutes held by Italy’s Walter Zenga.
The match was full of chances for both sides to score, but none could really capitalise it untill a late winner from Merino. Portugal, in particular Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo, missed out on a lot of chances. It was Merino, who combined with Ferran Torres, another substitute, to create the much-needed magic for Spain.
Following a missed free kick, which marked a final chance for Portugal, Cristiano was seen breaking down in tears as, despite all his skill set, enormous goal-scoring records and club/individual accomplishments, the FIFA World Cup trophy eluded one of the sport’s finest ambassadors.
Before the match, Cristiano had announced that the ongoing edition would be his last WC; however, he has not offered any hint on his international football future as he chases the record of 1,000 professional goals.
Since Cristiano’s debut at the grandest stage, Portugal has achieved fourth place in his debut tournament in 2006, followed by a round of 16 in the 2010 edition, then a group stage exit in 2014 and then another pre-quarterfinal exit in 2018.
The 2022 edition saw Portugal doing slightly better, making it to the quarterfinals, but it was his long-time rival Lionel Messi who pretty much ended the ‘GOAT’ debates by capturing the prestigious trophy for Argentina and delivering a sensational performance in the final.
Cristiano’s FIFA World Cup career ends with 27 matches (second most by a player) and just 11 goals, underwhelming for a player of his stature and level of club accomplishments. Heading into the tournament, there were a lot of questions around Cristiano’s participation, but as an individual, he had a rather decent outing, with three goals in five matches in this edition. (ANI)
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