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Summary
- Portugal bench Cristiano Ronaldo in must win game against Switzerland
- Ronaldo was benched after he disrespected his head coach Fernando Santos
- Portugal beat Switzerland 6-1 but Ronaldo wasn’t keen on celebrating with his mates
Portugal were to play Switzerland in the final match of the round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in a must win game as the winner was set to advance to the quarter final and take on Morocco who surprised Spain (who also got beat by Japan in the group stage) and beat them 3-0 in a penalty shootout.
There was drama before Portugal walked out as news broke that Cristiano Ronaldo who usually captain’s Portugal would not start as he was being benched.
Ronaldo Benched After Disrespecting Santos
Portugal manager and head coach Fernando Santos substituted Ronaldo after 70 minutes in their last group match against South Korea. Ronaldo was seen leaving the ground in a huff and videos would later show that he hurled verbal abuse at Santos for being taken off the field.
Santos wasn’t happy to see Ronaldo disrespect him and decided that it was time to team Ronaldo a lesson and made a bold call. Santos decided to bench Portugal’s best player in a critical must win game to send a lesson to Ronaldo and the rest of the team. He replaced Ronaldo with 21 year old Gonçalo Ramos who had only paid 33 minutes of international football prior to this game.
It was a huge call and Ramos did not take long to reward Santos as he scored the opening goal against Switzerland. Ramos would go on to complete his hat-trick as Portugal routed Switzerland to finish 6-1 and advance to the quarter-finals.
Ronaldo Walks Off And Does Not Celebrate With Team
Santos waited till the 73rd minute of the game to bring on Cristiano Ronaldo who looked pretty dejected as he watched his teammates score around him. When the match finished and Portugal were celebrating on the pitch, Ronaldo was seen taking off his captain’s armband and leaving the field immediately.
Portugal has shown that they can win without Ronaldo and that a young 21 year old has both the talent and ability to replace him. It’s a huge blow to Ronaldo’s ego as the 37 year old is playing his last World Cup.
Fans in Portugal have also turned against Ronaldo as a poll showed that 70 percent do not want Ronaldo in the starting line-up. Will Ronaldo be benched against in the quarter-final?
