Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has insisted that winning with Portugal is “different” after he and his fellow countrymen triumphed over Spain in the Nations League final on Sunday evening.
Portugal edged out Spain in a penalty shootout after the two sides remained deadlocked through regular and extra time.
Fernandes was at the heart of the Selecao’s victory, scoring his spot-kick in the penalty shootout and even assuming the armband when Cristiano Ronaldo was forced off with an injury.
Fernandes thought he had scored in the second half but his goal was ruled out for a Pedro Neto offside in the build-up.
For Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, the win surely brought a welcome sense of relief after enduring a tough 2024/25 season at club level.
United finished in a lowly 15th place in the Premier League, having suffered 18 defeats and picking up just 42 points. The Red Devils also lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final, blowing their only chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
There was intense speculation surrounding Fernandes’ future at Old Trafford amidst interest from Al-Hilal but after careful deliberation with his family, the 30-year-old turned down the Saudi Pro League outfit.
After Portugal’s success in Munich, Fernandes spoke to the media [as quoted by The Mirror] and gave his verdict on the game.
He said, “I’m going to celebrate with my teammates and my family. It’s a special moment for everyone. Winning for Portugal is different. It’s for our family, for our people, for the country, for our people.”
“Once again, the wave of red that I saw so much on social media was there and made us feel like we were playing at home. Thank you very much for all the support, it was excellent. We felt it, from start to finish, from the moment we got to the end.”
“Everything we did during the game helped us win. We knew we were going up against a great team, and at the same time we knew we were a team of the same level. We knew Spain’s qualities, we were very aggressive when losing the ball, which was very important.”
Fernandes attributed Portugal’s success to individual talent.
“We had individual talent on our side, such as Nuno [Mendes] , our left-sided player, who ended up running over everyone and ended up giving us two moments of great joy, with his runs.”
“Individual talent is what makes you win the game, like Diogo Costa’s save and Rúben Neves’ penalty. We don’t need to be favourites. That’s up to the person who says it, there will always be those who say that some are favourites, others will say that others are.”
“That doesn’t matter to us. We, the Portuguese, go out there to win, whatever it is, whoever is ahead of us. We want to win every game. Sometimes it’s possible, sometimes it’s not.”
He noted that Portugal are fully aware they can beat anyone on their day.
Featured image Lars Baron via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
