World Cup 2022: Bruno Fernandes says Portugal were nervous against Ghana

Published on: 26 November 2022

Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes says they felt nervous at some point in their clash against Ghana in the 2022 World Cup.

Following a scoreless first half, Ronaldo scored the game's first goal, a controversial penalty, to become the first player to score in five World Cup finals.

Andre Ayew then equalised for Ghana, but Portugal took the lead again with two goals in three minutes from Joao Felix and Rafael Leao, both goals assisted by Fernandes, before Osman Bukari's close-range header set up a tense finish.

"Only by making the right movements spaces can appear. There has to be the right timing in the movement. We were happy and we scored goals, just like the penalty kick, a great move between João Félix and Cristiano resulted in a penalty kick for us that scored."

The Portuguese secure victory, but it could have easily ended in a stalemate. In the final seconds, Williams hid behind Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who was holding the ball.

Costa failed to check behind him, and Williams crept up to win the ball after Costa had rolled it out, but he slipped at the crucial moment, and Danilo Pereira cleared off the line.

"It wasn't a tremor at all. It's the normal nervousness of the first game, it's the difficulty that Ghana caused us. A selection that we knew would cause us a lot of problems. At the end of the game, they took more people to the front. When we left, we could have scored one more goal or two: we weren't able to, but we knew how to defend the result and that's the most important thing."

"We want to start winning, but regardless of the results of the other teams, we have to do our [work]. That's what we manage to control: our games and our points. Now, the focus is on the next game."

 

 

 

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