Bruno Fernandes sent Portugal to the 2022 World Cup by scoring twice on Tuesday in a 2-0 win over Italian conquerors North Macedonia. With Italy’s shocking departure, North Macedonia dreamed of their first ever appearance in a World Cup final, but Portugal and Fernandes proved a step too far in Porto. Fernandes eased Portuguese nerves at the Estadio do Dragao by finishing Cristiano Ronaldo’s pass in the first half and then made the win more comfortable in the second, clinging to an inch-perfect cross from the excellent Diogo Jota.
The win means Portugal extend its qualifying streak for six of its six World Cups since the turn of the century, with Ronaldo at 37 on track for his fifth.
The striker’s best result was reaching the semi-finals in 2006, when Portugal was defeated by Germany.
North Macedonia, ranked 67th in the world rankings, had beaten Germany and finished second in Group J before beating European champions Italy in the semi-finals of the play-off on Friday. Aleksandar Trajkovski scored a winner in the 92nd minute to put in a stunning result in Palermo.
Portugal, meanwhile, has yet to strike a balance between their traditionally conservative approach and a range of attacking talent that any country in the world would envy.
They were denied the lead in Group A by Serbia, while Fernando Santos’ side were relieved when Turkey missed an 85th minute penalty, making the score 2-1, in their semi-final win on Thursday.
North Macedonia also started confidently, their possession holding up enough to draw whistles from an excited home crowd.
Portugal’s first chance came in the 14th minute when Jota pulled Ronaldo through and let go of the striker with his left foot, before firing wide of the post.
Jota headed in and over from a corner from Fernandes and in the 32nd minute Fernandes struck, taking advantage of a mistake by North Macedonian captain Stefan Ristovski.
Fernandes intercepted Ristovski’s wild cross-field pass and tamed the ball with a muffled pass to his Manchester United team-mate Ronaldo. Ronaldo arrived at the edge of the area, but instead of firing, he punched to the right, through Visar Misliu’s legs and back to Fernandes, who drove in.
Jota might have doubled the advantage, but hit the side nets before halftime, which allowed North Macedonia to reach without further punishment after its most assertive period yet.
The visitors regrouped and found their way at the start of the second period, but were again undone by a slick Portuguese break and Fernandes.
Pepe expropriated Enis Bardhi and Portugal was gone, the ball spread to Jota who made a beautiful cross into the area. Fernandes arrived and took the finish perfectly on the half volley.
North Macedonia wanted a late penalty as Danilo Pereira took the ball away from Bojan Miovski in the area before Ronaldo was prevented from reaching Fernandes’ cross to the nearest post on another counterattack.
promoted
With the minnows defeated, Ronaldo can look to Qatar.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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