All eyes were on Cristiano Ronaldo during Portugal’s Round of 16 clash against Switzerland, as he was benched by his manager Fernando Santos. That raised the eyebrows of many as the Portugal boss instead opted to go with Goncalo Ramos as his main man up front, who was uncapped at a FIFA World Cup tournament. But that was until the last game, as Ramos earned his first World Cup appearance, that too a start ahead of Ronaldo.
Ramos didn’t waste the opportunity, as he smashed a hat-trick to celebrate his World Cup debut. Portugal too enjoyed a goals galore, netting six goals with just one conceded. Cristiano Ronaldo was cheering his team from the sidelines, but his best efforts to hide his frustration due to missing out on the action failed miserably. Santos did introduce Ronaldo in the 73rd minute with the game done and dusted, as the 37-year-old still couldn’t join the party by getting on the scoresheet. Santos then explained his audacious decision of benching the five-time Ballon d’Or winner in his post match press conference.
It was strategic – Santos on dropping Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo so far has had a tournament to forget despite Portugal reaching the quarterfinals. He just has one goal in four games, and is yet to enjoy a full 90 minutes on the pitch. During Portugal’s first two games at the tournament against Ghana and Uruguay, Fernando Santos took-off Ronaldo in the 88th and 82nd minute respectively. That was followed by a 65th minute replacement of the now free agent against South Korea where he was having a horrible game as Portugal lost 2-1.
It was then that tensions furled up between the two, as Ronaldo appeared to shout at Santos while walking off the pitch after his substitution. The Portuguese captain however denied the claims after the game as he explained he had a spat with South Korea striker Cho Gue-sung who was asking him to get off the pitch quickly. But that was not the whole story, as reports of a rift between Santos and Ronaldo over the latter’s game time were confirmed by many.
It was then being deduced that Santos, who condemned Ronaldo’s actions during his substitution, ‘punished’ the former Real Madrid forward by benching him. However, the Selecaos manager cleared the air on those rumours, as he claimed it was purely a strategic decision to bench his captain, and that he too reacted to it in an utmost professional manner. Santos also dismissed the claims of a disagreement between the two as he explained after the Switzerland game:
“Cristiano and [Goncalo] Ramos are different players. There is no problem with the captain of the national team. It was strategic. Players are different. I also started [Diogo] Dalot, Raphael [Guerreiro], however [Joao] Cancelo is a fabulous player. That’s what I thought for the game against Switzerland, in another game it might be different. There is no problem between Fernando Santos and the captain of the national team.
“I have a very close relationship with him – I always have, I have known him since he was 19 years old. This relationship only develops, Ronaldo and I never interpret the human aspect of that of manager and player [in relation to] what we have to do during the match. I will always consider in my role that he is an important player to have in the team. Coaches make decisions.
“I already explained, that part [from the South Kore game] was completely resolved and Cristiano has shown that he is a professional of choice and a captain of a handful. He didn’t create any problem, really. We spoke before the game and he had no issue with my decision. Cristiano’s an example.”
Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 819 career goals for club and country combined, is still searching for his first ever goal in the knockouts of football’s biggest competition. In what probably is his last ever appearance at a World Cup tournament, Ronaldo will surely want to bid farewell to it with achieving his target of notching up a knockouts goal. It remains to be seen now whether Santos opts for the same line-up against Morocco in the quarterfinals, or reintroduces Ronaldo.