Bruno Fernandes has been given a new nickname by Portugal teammate Bernardo Silva after the Selecao secured their place in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.
It was an action-packed Monday night at the Frankfurt Arena as Portugal squeezed past Slovenia in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
A tearful Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed a penalty in extra-time, converted second time around before Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva capitalised on a goalkeeping masterclass from Diogo Costa.
Fernandes was expected to score from 12 yards. The 29-year-old is somewhat of a penalty specialist, missing just six of 60 career spot-kicks.
And he calmly stroked the ball past Jan Oblak to give his side a two-goal advantage.
After the final whistle, Bernardo Silva gave the Manchester United man a nickname many rival fans are familiar with.
Taking to Instagram on Monday afternoon, he posted a picture of himself with Fernandes alongside the caption: “With my friend and penalty professor Bruno Penandes.”
Since his move to the Premier League in 2020, Fernandes has been dubbed ‘Penandes’ by fans because of a perception that his scoring record is heavily reliant on goals from the spot.
Fernandes netted eight penalties in 22 appearances during his first season at Old Trafford.
The former Sporting CP midfielder, meanwhile, reacted to Silva’s message by saying: “You are welcome Benandes”, although we reckon “Penardo” would have gone down better, sorry Bruno.
Such was the popularity of his “Penandes” nickname, the man himself gave his take on it during an interview with the United Review in 2020.
He said: “We can’t talk a lot about penalties because everybody will say, ‘Bruno only scores with penalties’. If the others score them, it’s no problem. They just score a penalty, you know.
“Penalties are part of the game, you know. You need to score. You have the chance but you need to score.
“I know everyone is talking about them like it’s easy but you can lose a final with a penalty. Manchester wins the Champions League in Moscow with penalties [in 2008].”
He added: “For most people, it’s easy when you’re in front of the TV. It is easy – just look at the goalkeeper jump to his left so why don’t you shoot to the right?
“Yeah, I can shoot to the right but, on my mind, was the left and the goalkeeper saved it! It can happen. But the most important thing, for me, is to keep scoring.”
