{"id":1353825,"date":"2024-06-04T22:20:32","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T21:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1353825"},"modified":"2024-06-04T22:20:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T21:20:32","slug":"international-football-round-up-bruno-fernandes-lionesses","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/international-football-round-up-bruno-fernandes-lionesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Five things you might have missed from Tuesday’s international football: Bruno Fernandes delivers pre-Euro 2024 masterclass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preparations for Euro 2024 continued on Tuesday evening with a host of national teams in action.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The likes of Portugal and Italy — winners of the last two European Championships — tested the squads they hope will lead them to glory in Germany, while two of England’s group opponents, Serbia and Slovenia, were also on show. And, of course, the Lionesses took on France in a key qualification match for the Uefa European Women’s Championship in 2025.<\/p>\n

Read on for everything you might have missed from across the evening’s action.<\/p>\n

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    1. A mixed evening for England’s Euro 2024 opponents<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Gareth Southgate’s scouts will have been out in force on Tuesday with two of England’s group-stage opponents in action.<\/p>\n

    Group C outsiders Slovenia had a positive evening with a 2-1 win over Armenia, most impressively doing so without both Jan Oblak and Benjamin Sesko. Many expect Matja\u017e Kek’s side to finish bottom of the group, but beware, Slovenia are now five games unbeaten. Of course, the last team to beat them were Denmark, who they’ll face at Euro 2024.<\/p>\n

    Serbia didn’t quite fare as well. The Eagles are bringing a highly-talented group to Germany this summer but found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat to fellow dark horses Austria in Vienna. That’s despite fielding the likes of Dusan Vlahovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Dusan Tadic.<\/p>\n

    Even more worrying for Serbia is the fact they’re now on a run of just one win in their last five matches, with only their friendly against Sweden at the weekend remaining to get some momentum going.<\/p>\n

    Southgate will also be closely watching Denmark, who face a Scandinavian double-header against Sweden and Norway this week.<\/p>\n

    2. Bruno Fernandes delivers masterclass in absence of Ronaldo<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t in the Portugal squad for their friendly against Finland as he got some much-needed rest ahead of Euro 2024, but that didn’t stop them from enjoying themselves in Lisbon.<\/p>\n

    A Sele\u00e7\u00e3o das Quinas\u00a0<\/i>raced into a 3-0 lead inside 56 minutes, scoring with each of their first three big chances. Man City centre-back Ruben Dias — wearing the captain’s armband for the evening — was the unlikely man to kick things off with a header from a Vitinha corner in the 17th minute. Liverpool’s Diogo Jota doubled the lead from the penalty spot shortly before half-time.<\/p>\n

    The break saw the introduction of Goncalo Ramos, Pedro Neto, Goncalo Inacio, Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes for Portugal and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the latter who made it 3-0 with a superb curling effort from outside the area.<\/p>\n

    However, we then saw why some in Portugal are worried about their prospects this summer with Roberto Martinez’s customary defensive frailties rearing their ugly heads. Portugal allowed veteran striker Teemu Pukki space in the box not once but twice in four minutes, scoring with Finland’s only two shots in the entire match.<\/p>\n

    Fortunately, Fernandes wasn’t finished there, with Euro 2024 qualifying’s top assist-provider going on to add Portugal’s fourth goal, while creating two chances, completing 92% of his passes and playing six passes into the final third. Incidentally, both Fernandes goals were assisted by Porto youngster Chico Conceicao, making just his second senior national team appearance.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Bruno Fernandes' game by numbers vs. Finland:<\/p>\n

    45 minutes
    100% long pass accuracy
    92% pass accuracy
    60 touches
    50 passes
    4 shots
    2 chances created
    2 shots on target
    2 fouls won
    2 goals<\/p>\n

    O Magnifico. ? pic.twitter.com\/QNf1bipz2S<\/a><\/p>\n

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