Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has expressed his anguish in a statement following Portugal’s exit from the World Cup at the hands of Spain. Mikel Merino’s late strike saw his country eliminated in the last 16, but Fernandes has now issued a formal response. He writes about “X” as follows: “Sad, frustrated and disillusioned. This group of players has raised my expectations not only for the quality but also for the fact that it’s a great group that we’ve put together over the last few years.”
“Thank you to all the players, the technical team and all the staff who accompanied and helped us every day during the World Cup. To all Portuguese people, a huge thank you for your support and belief.” Fernandes played in all of Portugal’s matches in this tournament, but recorded just one assist, finishing second in the group stage and facing his country a difficult path to reaching the finals.
They advanced to the last 32 stage with an stoppage-time victory over Croatia, but in the next round they faced European champions Spain, who have yet to score a goal in this tournament.
Roberto Martínez’s side held out for 90 minutes, but Merino equalized in the first minute of stoppage time when he drifted into the box and beat Diogo Costa.
Cristiano Ronaldo appeared visibly distraught immediately after the defeat in what was expected to be his final World Cup appearance. It was indeed the last game for Martinez, who left as former Everton and Wigan manager.
United may have wanted to see Fernandes progress deeper into the tournament, but such an early departure means Fernandes and Diogo Dalot will return for pre-season ahead of the likes of Koby Mainu, Lisandro Martinez and Nousair Mazraoui, who all reached the quarter-finals.
Transfer business has dominated the games at Old Trafford in recent weeks, and that focus is almost certain to continue throughout July.
United are yet to officially announce any new signings, but Brazilian midfield pair Ederson and Andrei Santos are expected to complete their moves to the club.
An agreement with the former has been in the works for some time, but the Chelsea star is set to take part in a £50m deal that was only finalized earlier this week.
Wrexham are United’s first opponents of pre-season, with that friendly scheduled to take place just nine days later. Michael Carrick’s side will face Rosenberg in July, before facing Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Leeds and AC Milan the following month.
