Brilliant Bruno!

Talisman Cristiano Ronaldo was absent through illness but Bruno Fernandesrsquos brace helped Portugal made light work of Nigeria with a 40 friendly win on ThursdayFernando Santosrsquos Portugal warmed up for the World Cup with victory in Lisbon although preparations for the match were overshadowed by an explosive interview given by Ronaldo earlier in the weekThe 37yearold striker lashed out at his club Manchester United where he has fallen out of favour under new coach Erik ten Hag before suffering gastroenteritis It only took nine minutes to break the deadlock against Nigeria who failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 2006Two of Ronaldorsquos Manchester United teammates combined for it with Diogo Dalot setting up Fernandes to finish after racing on to a fine Joao Felix passAlso Read Utd owners donrsquot care about club RonaldoFelix in fine formFelix often sidelined at Atletico Madrid was in sparkling form to ensure Ronaldo was not missed while Fernandes assumed the captainrsquos penalty duties to net his second before the break A frosty dressing room interaction between Ronaldo and Fernandes had made headlines earlier in the week but it was the midfielder who stepped up to take the spotlight against NigeriaFernandes fired wide just before the break wasting a good chance to complete a first half hattrickRonaldo his countryrsquos record appearance maker and the menrsquos international alltime top goalscorer with 191 strikes is set to return for Portugalrsquos World Cup opener against Ghana on November 24 although the team thrilled supporters without him before they depart for QatarAlso Read IND v NZ Toss for the first T20I at Sky Stadium delayed due to persistent rainNigeria miss penaltyNigeria could have pulled themselves back into the game but Rui Patricio stopped Emmanuel Dennisrsquos penalty in the 81st minute after a Dalot push just inside the area was penalised Benfica forward and Portugal debutant Goncalo Ramos tapped home from Raphael Guerreirorsquos unselfish cutback for the third aminute laterJoao Mario tucked away the fourth after a brilliant move involving Felix again and a silky touch from Ramos a perfect finale for an impressive dynamic attacking display to answer criticism labelling Santosrsquos football negativeIt was also a way of quietening the noise around Ronaldo although that is rarely possible for long as the veteran forward recovers and readies himself to play at his fifth World CupThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever