Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes was at his brilliant best on Saturday as he helped Portugal to a 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The win meant that Portugal extended their perfect record in their bid to qualify for next year’s European Championship, having won all three of their qualifiers so far. Fernandes assisted the first goal before he scored the second and third himself.
Fernandes has been a mainstay in the side under Erik ten Hag, with the Dutchman effectively making him captain after dropping Harry Maguire from the side.
The former Sporting star has not missed a single game through injury since he joined the club over three years ago and there are now concerns over his fitness.
Speaking after his two-goal haul for Portugal, Fernandes was quizzed on his fitness and although he admitted that he feels less fresh now, he insisted there is room for rest further down the road.
“I was fresh, now less fresh, but I will recover. Later I’ll have my rest, but I always want to play and give my best. I don’t want to think about being tired,” Fernandes told Sport TV, via the Manchester Evening News.
“It was a great win, these are difficult games and we have to make them easy, as we did. I’m pleased to have scored, but the most important thing was getting the three points. We want to be in the European Championship.”
We are roughly three weeks away from the start of United’s pre-season tour but a number of first-team regulars are expected to miss the curtain-raiser in Oslo.
Fernandes falls into that category, with nearly all players involved in international fixtures this month expected to link up with the squad later in July.