The viral video of Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes seemingly displaying a rift between the 2 gamers has been dismissed as “only a joke” by their Portuguese teammate Joao Mario, amid the aftermath of CR7’s controversial interview with Piers Morgan.
The brief clip exhibits a clumsy trade with the Manchester United pair, as Fernandes arrives within the Portugal dressing room forward of coaching. That is presumably the primary time each have met because the bombshell interview surfaced this week.
Nonetheless, Benfica midfielder Mario has insisted that there was no pressure between the pair, opposite to the response of social media to the video.
Talking at a press convention on Tuesday, Mario mentioned:
“It was a joke between them as a result of Bruno was one of many final to reach and Cristiano requested if he had come by boat. It was a joke between them, they play collectively.”
Apparently, what Manchester United followers had taken as a rift forming between two of their key gamers (at the very least, for now) was nothing greater than a little bit of banter between teammates.
Within the video, Fernandes put an arm on Ronaldo as he walked previous him to place his bag down within the locker earlier than turning to face the remainder of the dressing room.
Ronaldo supplied out his hand first – which Fernandes, after a short second of seemingly questioning whether or not he ought to settle for it, meets together with his personal earlier than saying one thing to him and turning away.
The ahead was left awkwardly standing there, visibly confused as Fernandes went to talk with a few of his different Portuguese team-mates.
However, you may see why United followers had made the apparently ‘incorrect’ assumption.
Though the total interview is but to be launched, Ronaldo reportedly instructed Morgan that he felt “betrayed” by United boss Erik Ten Hag, after beginning simply 5 instances within the Premier League this season.
Ronaldo added within the interview that Manchester United weren’t even near the likes of Manchester Metropolis and Liverpool, which, though could also be true, is unquestionably not the type of factor a Man United ‘legend’ ought to be saying publicly.
In doing so, Ronaldo hasn’t simply burnt his bridges with the Pink Satan followers, he has torched, nuked and salted the earth with them.
Ronaldo did make clear it wasn’t the followers that he was aiming at, however slightly the possession and course of the membership, including:
“The followers, they’re all the time proper. I feel the followers ought to know the reality – ought to know that the gamers… we wish one of the best for the membership.”
The obtrusive drawback nonetheless is that when you communicate out so publicly, so critically, about your employers, your time with that employer is inevitably numbered.
Regardless of undoubtedly being the most effective of all time, it’s extraordinarily unlikely we’ll be seeing Ronaldo in a United shirt once more. Possibly Fernandes wasn’t being as chilly in direction of CR7 because it appeared on the video… however might you actually blame him if he was?
On the finish of the day, they may each be key gamers for Portugal on the World Cup, in order that they’ll need to hold their reservations to themselves for now.
READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo failing in late try for relevance at Ten Hag’s Man Utd
