Three Talking Points | Portugal 2-0 Uruguay | OneFootball

Portugal picked up a 2-0 win over Uruguay on Monday to seal their passage to the next round of the FIFA World Cup, joining Brazil and France.

A brace from Bruno Fernandes was crucial for the Portuguese side to win the game, despite some nervous moments where they were bailed out by Diogo Costa.

Rodrigo Bentancur shows his class

Tottenham’s Bentancur has had a very good season for the Lilywhites and he did well against South Korea, but he was Uruguay’s best player on the pitch today and there were times when he seemed like the sole creator from the heart of the park for them. He also had their best chance of the game, which was saved by Diogo Costa.

Diogo Costa is the real deal

The goalkeeper’s performances for club and country have been attracting massive attention and today showed why that is the case. The Porto man has been vital in the Champions League and he made two very good saves and his positioning for Luis Suarez’s miss was also top class.

Fernandes’ brace helped Portugal sail through and he was generally good, despite not always being on the samelength as Joao Felix and Cristiano Ronaldo. But his approach of seeking volume passes and volume through balls will work very well in a tournament where Portugal may have more possession than they would have had in the past. His ability to keep at it can get annoying at times but is very valuable when the team has more possession.