It was meant to be a serene send-off. Instead, Portugal got a red card, a flashpoint and a reminder of who actually runs their team. Bruno Fernandes scored the goal that mattered as Portugal beat Chile 2-1 in Oeiras on June 6, a feisty final warm-up that raised as many questions as it answered (ESPN).
Cristiano Ronaldo started, came off at the break, and watched his replacement open the scoring. The night belonged to others.
Portugal 2-1 Chile, Oeiras, June 6 — Bruno Fernandes decisive; Leão sent off at half-time. Source: ESPN
A half-time flashpoint
The story turned on a moment of indiscipline. As the sides headed off at the interval, Rafael Leão got into a heated altercation with Chile defender Iván Román, felt he had been fouled, and was spotted throwing a punch. Román reacted, and both were shown straight red cards (ESPN).
For Portugal, it is the worst kind of warning. Leão's talent is undeniable, but a player losing his head in a meaningless friendly is exactly the sort of lapse that can cost a side a knockout tie. Roberto Martínez will not have enjoyed the optics a week before the tournament.
Guedes and Fernandes do the damage
With Ronaldo withdrawn at half-time — a planned substitution — it was Gonçalo Guedes, his replacement, who broke the deadlock in the 58th minute, finishing first-time after a weighted pass into the box (Flashscore).
Then came the moment of real quality. In the 75th minute, Bruno Fernandes struck a powerful effort from distance that beat the goalkeeper to make it 2-0 (Outlook India). Chile pulled one back through Lucas Cepeda deep in stoppage time, but the result was secure (ESPN).
Ronaldo is the name, but Bruno Fernandes is increasingly the answer. Portugal's most important player wears No. 8.
The Ronaldo conversation, again
Ronaldo's half-time exit will be read every way imaginable, but the simplest reading is load management for a 41-year-old icon a week from a World Cup. The more interesting subplot is what happened after he left: Portugal's attack flowed through Fernandes and found its goals without him.
That is not a slight on Ronaldo so much as a portrait of where this team's centre of gravity sits. Fernandes is the orchestrator and the finisher, the player who lifts Portugal from talented to dangerous. As the editorial desk has noted in our midfield rankings, his influence is among the highest of any player at this tournament.
A win that solves little
Portugal got the result, and they remain firmly in the model's group of genuine contenders, blessed with as deep a talent pool as anyone. But a 2-1 over a Chile side reduced to ten men for the second half is not the controlled statement they would have scripted.
The discipline issue is real, the Ronaldo-versus-balance debate is unresolved, and a defence that conceded late will want sharpening. Final warm-ups are for tidying loose ends, and Portugal leave Oeiras with a few still dangling.
The consolation is the obvious one. When the night got scrappy, the best midfielder on the pitch decided it. Portugal will take Bruno Fernandes in that mood all the way to July.
