MY FIRST GOAL COULD HAVE BEEN RON’S: BRUNO

LUSAIL: Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes said a goal awarded to him—the first of his two in a 2-0 win over Uruguay on Monday—might in fact have been scored by Cristiano Ronaldo, but what mattered was securing Portugal’s place in the World Cup’s next phase.

Fernandes was named as the scorer of Portugal’s opening goal in the 54th minute when his cross seemed to sail just past the head of Ronaldo and dropped into the net with Uruguayan goalkeeper Sergio Rochet confused by Ronaldo’s leap.

Portugal’s captain appeared to be claiming the goal with his celebrations and was then seen laughing when Fernandes was announced as the official scorer on the stadium’s loudspeakers.

“The feeling I had was that Cristiano touched the ball. I was passing the ball to him,” Fernandes told reporters. “What matters is that we’re going through to the next round after playing a very tough opponent.”

Portugal have won their opening two games at the World Cup in Qatar, beating Ghana 3-2 last week before Monday’s win over Uruguay, the team that knocked them out of the tournament held in Russia in 2018.