TALISMAN CRISTIANO RONALDO was absent through illness but Bruno Fernandes’ brace helped Portugal made light work of Nigeria with a 4-0 friendly win on Thursday.
Fernando Santos’s 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 week.
The 37-year-old 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 2006.
Two of Ronaldo’s Manchester United team-mates combined for it, with Diogo Dalot setting up Fernandes to finish after racing on to a fine Joao Felix pass.
Felix, often sidelined at Atletico Madrid, was in sparkling form to ensure Ronaldo was not missed, while Fernandes assumed the captain’s 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 Nigeria.
Fernandes fired wide just before the break, wasting a good chance to complete a first half hat-trick.
Ronaldo, his country’s record appearance maker and the men’s international all-time top goalscorer with 191 strikes, is set to return for Portugal’s World Cup opener against Ghana on 24 November, although the team thrilled supporters without him before they depart for Qatar.
Nigeria could have pulled themselves back into the game but Rui Patricio stopped Emmanuel Dennis’ 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 Guerreiro’s unselfish cut-back for the third a minute later.
Joao 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 Santos’s football negative.
It 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 Cup.
Elsewhere, Ansu Fati scored his first Spain goal for over two years as Luis Enrique’s side beat Jordan 3-1 in their own World Cup warm-up friendly in Amman.
The Barcelona forward, 20, has suffered from injury problems for most of that time but immediately repaid his coach’s decision to include him with a convincing display.
Fati and Marco Asensio, two of the players whose inclusion in the World Cup squad was questioned in some quarters, combined for the opener in the 13th minute.
Real Madrid forward Asensio drove forward and fed Fati, who fired home from inside the area, for his second Spain goal in five appearances.
“It’s top news, (Fati) has got a real knack for scoring,” said Luis Enrique. “(Asensio) was on another level, excellent. He played as the No 9 and did very well.”
Another Barcelona youngster, Gavi, doubled dominant Spain’s lead early in the second half with a cool finish, stroking home when the ball broke to him in the box.
Substitute Nico Williams fired a third home late on for his first international goal on his third appearance for La Roja.
Jordan pulled a goal back to delight their fans in stoppage time, with Hamza Al Daradreh beating Cesar Azpilicueta to score.
Spain appeared to avoid any further injury issues in the match, after left-back Jose Gaya suffered an ankle sprain in training on Wednesday night.
Spanish reports suggested the injury was not serious but Luis Enrique said that a decision would be made on whether to replace Gaya in the squad on Friday.
“It’s a delicate topic, it happened by chance, while making a cross he sustained a small problem,” explained the coach.
“The (medical) details are about the player and it’s not information I can give, tomorrow we will make a decision when we are sure, but it’s not nice news to have in the first few days.”
Luis Enrique’s side, who arrive in Qatar in the early hours of Friday morning, face Costa Rica in their first Group E game on 23 November, before playing Germany and Japan.
