Lisbon (EFE) — A brace and an assist from Bruno Fernandes made the difference in Portugal’s victory over Bosnia this Saturday (3-0), in which Roberto Martinez’s men shone again, despite some growing pains.
In an exhibition with moments where it was clear there was still room for improvement, Portugal struggled against Bosnia, who bowed to the talent of players such as Fernandez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva. .
Against the Balkan side, Portugal started more cautiously than explosively and found it difficult to create gaps for them, thanks to Bosnia effectively blocking no space, but thanks to the slowness the Portuguese brought to their own game.
When the tempo eventually picked up, it was Bosnia who terrorized Tedic with a cross in the 21st minute that, whether intentionally or not, forced a difficult save from Diogo Costa.
Moments later, Portugal spared the prudence to turn on the turbo momentarily and put the ball into the back of the net, but offside prevented Cristiano Ronaldo from adding to the score.
At the other end of the pitch, Dzeko had a golden opportunity but, isolated against Costa, he couldn’t finish well.
And Rafael Guerrero’s pace made the difference in the 44th minute. Borussia Dortmund found full-back Cristiano who, despite being under a lot of pressure, managed to lay the ball off to Bruno Fernandes, who assisted Bernardo Silva to open the scoring and round off a very sluggish first half for Roberto Martinez’s men. .
The second half began with an extraordinary moment when a fan carrying a Portugal flag invaded the pitch to hug and bow to Cristiano Ronaldo and entertain the crowd following his iconic celebration.
Again in the game, the “Quinas” team tried to manage the game and the possession, but this time in a more controlled manner than in the first half.
After a long wait, Portugal’s second goal came in the 77th minute through Bruno Fernandes, who headed in a lovely cross from Ruben Neves.
Portugal threatened a third when Cristiano isolated himself and passed the ball to Diogo Jota in the box, which the Bosnian goalkeeper saved.
Despite not scoring, Cristiano Ronaldo produced a superb performance in his 199th match with the team he captained, serving as the common thread of Martinez’s tactics on the pitch, and was rewarded with chants of his name from the Portuguese crowd.
But the figure of the night was actually Bruno Fernandes. With more than 6,000 minutes on his legs, he still had the energy to make his double in the 93rd minute and a dangerous shot into the center of the area that marked the third and final mark on the scoreboard.
