Roberto Martinez hails Man Utd ace whose intelligence is at the ‘highest level’
Bruno Fernandes was the star of the show as Portugal beat Bosnia-Herzegovina last night in Lisbon. Portugal boss, Roberto Martinez, has ridiculously high praise following the win.
The 28-year-old scored twice and assisted one as he directly contributed to all three of his nation’s goals as they won 3-0.
Bruno scored his first with a header and then a neat half-volley in additional time, whilst he also set up Bernardo Silva for his goal.
It was a sublime performance from the Portuguese Magnifico, that further solidifies the fact he’s one of Europe’s top midfielders.
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Roberto Martinez has high praise for Fernandes
Speaking after the game to PortuGOAL – Portugal boss Roberto Martinez had the following to say about Fernandes:
“When Bruno Fernandes arrived at the training camp he was the player who probably had more minutes than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues: 6,400 minutes. You can think: should we be worried? Should we be aware? And the reality is he is a player who wants to play.
“We always ask the player about the number of games they have played, and I can tell you he is the perfect example of players who love playing games – what they don’t like as much is to train, that’s clear! But to play games is enjoyable. He plays with a smile.
“He’s very intelligent. Every pass, every touch, has got a thought behind it, and his understanding with other players creates ways of penetrating that are very difficult to defend against.
“Today we were finding it difficult to get that penetration and I think Bruno Fernandes in a higher position and having a bit more of play longer from central areas, that was the reason to move Bruno Fernandes, and being able to be the first one to apply pressure, and give us a bit more strength in that central area with Rúben Neves.
“Bosnia needed to come back into the game so they were looking for combinations with Pjanic centrally especially and it was an area we had to block.
“I think the intelligence of Bruno Fernandes is of the highest, highest level – the football intelligence that he has. I don’t think it is a doubt that he makes players around him better.”
Praise of the highest order for Bruno. He really is a special player.
