After Portugal lost 1-0 to Spain and exited the FIFA World Cup in the round of 16, Bruno Fernandes expressed his disappointment in an interview with ESPN. He admitted that the team did not play at their best and said that, in the future, they need to play more in their own way to earn greater respect from opponents.

Bruno Fernandes said: "It's tough. We came here with a clear goal, which was to fulfill our desire to win the FIFA World Cup. Unfortunately, we didn't perform at our best. In the first half, we had the upper hand, but in the second half, our defense dropped too deep and we gave possession to the opponent. Playing like that, we were bound to concede eventually. Spain played really well; they have many excellent players. If we could have maintained our first-half performance, perhaps the outcome would have been better."

This result certainly cannot be called positive. Only reaching the very end would have made such an assessment positive. Portugal has never won the FIFA World Cup, and we came here with high expectations. This team had the ability to win, but unfortunately, that is no longer possible; we did not manage to do it.

We need to face the future differently, examine ourselves, play more in line with our own style, and make other teams respect us more."

AF's PC site is now live! Browse full news, comments, match details, and stats on your computer. Visit: www.allfootballapp.com