Former Manchester United gaffer, Jose Mourinho, has accused the new darling of Old Trafford, Bruno Fernandes, of ghosting his country at the ongoing EURO 2020.
The Portuguese manager, who is currently working at the Continental showpiece as a pundit with talkSPORT said the midfielder is yet to show up for his country amid a difficult start to the tournament.
Mourinho, while admitting that Fernandes has “incredible potential,” held that the playmaker isn’t replicating the same services he usually offers at club level with Manchester United.
However, the former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager remains optimistic that the talismanic midfielder would turn up on Wednesday against France in Portugal’s final group stage match.
“Portugal at its highest level can beat anyone,” Mourinho said on talkSPORT.
“But we need to play with 11 players, in these two matches Bruno Fernandes was on the pitch but not playing.
“I hope he turns up against France, because he’s a player with incredible potential.
“He can pass, he can score. He can get penalties, he can score penalties, he can score free kicks. He has a lot to give, but the reality is in these two matches he was not there.
“Portugal has three fantastic attacking players, Bernardo Silva, Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Diogo] Jota.
“We need that connection, but until now Bruno is not playing.”
Bruno Fernandes has started both of Portugal’s group stage matches so far and was pulled after just 63 minutes against Germany during a 4-2 defeat.
Fernandes, who finished last season at Manchester United as the club’s top scorer by a distant mile, has registered just one shot on target to this point in the competition, which came against minnows, Hungary, in a 3-0 victory.
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Portugal will need to avoid defeat against France on Wednesday to advance to the knockout stage, but are profoundly aware of Les Bleus attacking firepower.
A defeat coupled with a Germany loss, however, could send Fernando Santos’s men tumbling down to the bottom of the group.
“Hungary’s last match was against France the world champions and they drew 1-1,” manager Fernando Santos told reporters.
“A lot of people had written off Hungary’s chances but now they’ll be playing against Germany. We know that all we need to do is win, but before losing to Germany it was all up to us all well. It was in our grasp.
“We want to move on and we [want to] depend on ourselves in order to progress. “
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