I didn't touch Bruno but he went down screaming! Fulham's PALHINHA tells Murphy
For a country of only ten million people, Portugal has had one hell of an impact on our football.
Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo left massive imprints of course. Now we have the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Marco Silva and Nuno Espirito Santo contributing to our Premier League.
I met up with another of their countrymen, Joao Palhinha, this week. Driving to the Fulham training ground at Motspur Park brought back happy memories of my own five years at the club.
I even found the parking spot used by manager Roy Hodgson, except for the one day I absent-mindedly left my car in it and received a proper rollocking.
Palhinha has been an integral part of the most successful Fulham team since I captained our 2010 Europa League finalists.
Tall, combative and athletic, he’s at the peak of his powers aged 28 and part of Portugal’s plans for this summer’s Euros. Bayern Munich were close to signing him last summer and it would be no surprise if more big fish didn’t come in at the end of this season.
Chatting to him in some welcome sunshine, I found we shared something beyond trying to influence games as deep-lying midfielders.
A lot of players don’t like coming up against friends and former team-mates on the pitch, but I used to enjoy it. Palhinha gave the same vibe about facing Portugal team-mates in the Premier League.
‘I remember with Bruno when we played Manchester United at home in November. I received a yellow card. I didn’t touch him and he was completely screaming. It is normal for him!’ grins the Fulham man.
‘The next play, I drove with the ball and he made a tackle. It was not a foul but I screamed as well because he did the same.
‘The ref gave the foul but didn’t give him a yellow card. I smiled at
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