Bruno Fernandes hailed Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo after Portugal's World Cup playoff win against North Macedonia.
The victory sees Portugal qualify for Qatar 2022.
Fernandes later said: "I play with Cristiano and I believe we can have right or wrong choices, but I don't think he doesn't put himself at the service of the team.
"He has to score, I don't understand why the journalists say that the attacker has to score and be selfish, then he is criticised for this.
"He doesn't have to prove anything to anyone, there are no words to say what he did. Today he gave me an assist and he did it many times in Manchester, I'm happy if the team wins."
He added: "It didn't matter who scored, it was only going to the World Cup that counted. We managed and we are happy for what we managed to do it. We are there, that counts."