Portugal midfielder, Bruno Fernandes, has insisted he has “no problem” with team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo.
Fernandes also claimed their awkward exchange in the dressing room was just a “joke”.
Both Manchester United stars exchanged a frosty handshake with Ronaldo on Monday as the pair met up with Portugal ahead of the World Cup amid Ronaldo’s explosive interview with Piers Morgan in which he criticised United and boss Erik ten Hag.
But Fernandes has played down their interaction and says audio of the footage proves they were sharing a joke.
When asked by Sky Sports News reporter Gary Cotterill after Portugal’s 4-0 warm-up win over Nigeria whether he has a problem with Ronaldo, Fernandes responded: “I have no problem with anyone.
“I do my job and as a manager once said to me, everything that you can control is yourself. I think everyone thinks the same way, you have to control yourself, give your best and that’s it.”
No cold shoulder
When asked if he gave Ronaldo the cold shoulder, Fernandes replied: “Why do you say that?
“They put the sound [on] after. Did you hear it with the sound? You have to.
“In Portugal we have a problem, that I was watching one of the channels that was talking about that, ‘was cold, was bad’, for 45 minutes.
“All of a sudden they go to a break, the national team send it with sound.
“The sound says that he is joking with me and so they come back and said there was a joke and they cut there. They said, ‘if you want to see again just go back’, but if they go back they will see there’s a problem. But if they are really true and explain what was in that video people will know, but now people don’t know.
“This is the national team, Manchester United will be my focus after the World Cup.”
