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Bernardo Silva has issued a grovelling apology to his country after Portugal threw away a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 to Serbia and drop into the World Cup qualifying play-offs.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co needed just a point to reach next winter's finals in Qatar and got off to the perfect start through Renato Sanches' second-minute goal, but Dusan Tadic levelled Sunday's winner-takes-all qualifier to create nerves in Lisbon.
Portugal thought they had done enough to earn World Cup qualification but Aleksandar Mitrovic headed home a 90th-minute winner to send Serbia through to the World Cup at the expense of the hosts - who now drop into March's play-offs.
Bernardo Silva has apologised to Portugal fans for their 2-1 loss to Serbia on Sunday night
Aleksandar Mitrovic struck late to send Serbia to the World Cup finals at Portugal's expense
Silva, who was taken off for Bruno Fernandes just after the hour mark in Lisbon, could not find the words to describe Portugal's display and felt he personally was not up to scratch in terms of an individual display.
'It was a bad game for Portugal,' the Manchester City star claimed after the game. 'We managed to score the goal early but from then on we stopped playing. I
