Roy Keane suddenly changes tune on Bruno Fernandes at World Cup after Man Utd spat

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Roy Keane branded Bruno Fernandes the best in the world when it comes to picking the right passes in transition – while putting their spat to bed. Keane made the bold claim about the Manchester United star after he set up Cristiano Ronaldo to score for Portugal against Uzbekistan .

Roberto Martinez’s side were already leading 2-0 thanks to goals from Rondlao and Nuno Mendes when the Al-Nassr star made it 3-0. But the goal came after Fernandes slid the ball through the lines to allow Ronaldo to finish expertly into the far corner of the net.

And reacting to the goal at half-time on ITV , Keane said of Fernandes: “He is by far the best player in the world at that!” Keane’s praise for the midfielder comes after he revealed earlier this month he had a 'lovely chat' with the United captain after a recent disagreement over the Premier League assist record.

Keane claimed Fernandes had said in an interview he had chosen to pass instead of shoot during his pursuit of the Premier League assist record, but the Portuguese attacker’s actual remarks were the opposite. Fernandes highlighted the incorrect statement by Keane on an appearance on The Diary of a CEO podcast, where he also expressed a desire to speak with the 54-year-old about his misinterpreted comments.

A chat then took place between the two with Keane, speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, later confirming they had quashed the issue. He first joked: “He apologised, I forgave him, no problem, but no, it was a good chat.”

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Before he added: “No, there was a reaction after what we said on the podcast a few weeks ago, and he reached out to me and wanted a chat… I called him and we had a lovely chat.

“A lovely chat about a bit of everything, but it was nice because when we do podcasts or games, sometimes you think you say something afterwards and you communicate something and it doesn’t come across properly, so people get upset, and he said he wanted to talk to me.

“And we had a nice, mature conversation. It was lovely. A lovely chat. “I like having boundaries with players.

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“I don’t want to be speaking to players every few weeks or their agents, I don’t want to go down that road, but every now and then a player might reach out, so I think it was important I spoke to him.

“There has been lots going on and lots reported. He’s obviously a big player for United, I’m an ex-United player, and I think the idea of this communicating and having a proper conversation – I really enjoyed it. Hopefully, I think he did as well. Nice chat about a bit of everything, and I felt better afterwards.”

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