“He ran the show tonight”, “Deserves more respect” – Fans salute 28-year-old star who changed the game for Portugal during 3-2 win over Ghana in their FIFA World Cup clash

The Manchester United playmaker provided two goals to put the Selecao ahead of their opponents in mere minutes, which were enough to secure all three points.

Taking to Twitter to hail Fernandes for his efforts, the fans did not hold back their words of praise for the 28-year-old playmaker.

Bruno Fernandes will hope he can continue impressing the fans and his country, as the Selecao hope to go far in the FIFA World Cup. In the meantime, he will be pleased with his efforts, which went a long way to secure their closely-fought win.

Portugal see off Ghana threat in their opening clash of the FIFA World Cup

The game started vibrantly with the Selecao taking charge of the proceedings, while the Black Stars preferred to sit back and hold off the threat. It yielded some fruit for Ghana, who managed to get to the halftime whistle without conceding a goal.

There were massive chances for Cristiano Ronaldo in the first half, but the former Manchester United forward was unable to secure the opener early on. Notably, he did find the net, but the goal was chalked off due to a foul in the build-up play.

In the second half, however, things changed for both teams. While Portugal continued to provide an attacking threat, they slumped in defensive areas. Their African counterparts, who did little to attack in the first 45 minutes, decided to put in the effort in attack, and it almost paid off for them as they secured two goals.

Ronaldo was on hand to open the scoring after he drew a foul in the penalty area. The forward powered his effort into the goal and became the first male player to score in five consecutive FIFA World Cups. Andre Ayew brought Ghana level with a close-range effort, but the Black Stars' celebrations were cut short.

Merely minutes later, Joao Felix restored Portugal's lead, and two minutes later, the Selecao scored yet another through Rafael Leao.

Bruno Fernandes' quality in chance creation was vital in setting up both goals, which were enough to see off the game. Osman Bukari scored another goal for Ghana, but it was too late for the Black Stars to secure another equalizer.

About the author

Nnanna is a European and international football journalist who has been covering news and transfer rumors at Sportskeeda for around 5 years. A keen interest in reading and football since an early age, watching games at local stadiums with family paved the way for him to take up the sport professionally.

Nnanna’s favorite club is English team Bolton Wanderers because he witnessed Nigeria legend Jay-Jay Okocha's play for them between 2002 and 2006. His favorite footballer is Ronaldinho due to the Brazilian's love for the sport and admires Pep Guardiola for redefining football tactics. As a former literature student, Nnanna reckons that the best way of connecting with the readers is to add a bit of empathy in his writing, and relies on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and WhoScored for his articles.

Lionel Messi lifting the World Cup trophy in 2022 is Nnanna’s favorite FIFA World Cup moment, and also follows Major League Soccer due to the diminutive Argentine. He strongly believes that Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could be the next two superstars in the same light as legendary pair Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

When not writing, he likes to play Football Manager and other simulation games.

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