Nuno Mendes could not stop himself from crying as he was substituted with an injury during the first half of Portugal’s high-profile World Cup meeting with Uruguay on Monday evening. The 20-year-old was not selected to feature in his side’s group stage victory over Ghana last week with a thigh problem but returned to the fold at left-back as Fernando Santos rolled the dice against Uruguay at Lusail Stadium.
Mendes managed to get through the opening 40 minutes unscathed but stayed down after suffering an awkward landing as half-time approached to spark fears over his ability to continue. He was eventually replaced by Raphael Guerreiro and was clearly emotional as he trudged down the tunnel with tears rolling down his face while flanked by a member of Portugal’s medical team.
It remains to be seen whether Mendes will be passed fit to face South Korea in Portugal’s final group stage match on Friday, but his tearful reaction to his latest knock did not appear to provide much optimism. It is not yet known whether the injury is related to the previous issue that stopped him from playing against Ghana, with Mendes likely to have a scan over the coming days in order to determine the severity of the problem and his expected recovery time.
It will represent a major blow for Portugal if Mendes is deemed unavailable for selection for an extended period of time, with the young defender missing five club matches for Paris Saint-Germain through injury prior to the start of the World Cup. Portugal are already without a number of key players in Qatar, with Danilo Pereira and Otavio picking up knocks earlier in the tournament and Diogo Jota having failed to make the squad due to an injury suffered while playing for Liverpool against Manchester City.
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