Bruno Fernandes issues apology to Jamie Carragher after bringing up bad memory

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has publicly apologised to Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher for bringing up his penalty miss against Portugal at the 2006 World Cup

Bruno Fernandes apologized to Jamie Carragher(Image: The Wayne Rooney Show / BBC Sport)

Bruno Fernandes has issued a public apology to Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher after referencing his penalty miss for England against Portugal during the 2006 World Cup.

In a conversation with Wayne Rooney, Fernandes reminisced about celebrating as a youngster when Carragher's spot-kick was stopped by Ricardo, who also thwarted attempts from Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the quarter-final shootout.

Carragher had initially converted his penalty, but the former Liverpool defender was forced to retake it after not waiting for the referee's whistle. On his second attempt, Ricardo prevailed and Portugal secured their semi-final berth, where they were eventually eliminated by France.

Rooney had been dismissed earlier in the match for treading on Ricardo Carvalho, with Cristiano Ronaldo notoriously winking at his then-Manchester United colleague as he departed the pitch in Germany, reports the Manchester Evening News.

During The Wayne Rooney Show, Fernandes remarked: "Obviously 2006, everyone remembers because of Cristiano and Wayne's little bit of fire.", reports the Liverpool Echo.

"(It) ends up with Jamie Carragher missing the penalty. I had to say this - sorry, Jamie," Fernandes admitted before turning to the camera.

"I had to get a little bit off you, you get on me all the time," he said with a smile. "I can get on you with that penalty. When I miss a penalty, don't say anything about it, please."

Jamie Carragher missed a decisive penalty against Portugal in the 2006 World Cup(Image: Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

In 2021, Carragher spoke honestly about his anguish in response to Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford receiving racist abuse for missing penalties in the final of Euro 2020.

Writing in his Telegraph column, Carragher recalled: "Sven Goran Eriksson summoned me and gave me one job: to dispatch a spot-kick as convincingly as I had in every practise session.

"I had not missed a penalty in six weeks. 'You'll take the fourth', Eriksson told me. Not a problem. England were 2-1 down by the time I made that 40-yard walk, but I was feeling confident staring at Portugal's No. 1 Ricardo."

"Knowing precisely where to place the ball, I struck it sweetly to the right, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way - my first touch of the game. There was a momentary sense of relief."

"Then the referee blew his whistle. The Argentine official, Horacio Marcelo Elizondo, said I had taken it too soon."

"Take two. Now I was engaged in a game of bluff with Ricardo, wrongly presuming he would think I would try to score in exactly the same way. I changed my mind and went left. So did he, pushing away my attempt."