Fernando Santos has said he dropped Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal’s World Cup last-16 tie against Switzerland for tactical reasons.
Ronaldo is presently representing Portugal in Qatar, having left Manchester United early last month. However, even before his abrupt departure, the striker had not been in excellent form.
Ronaldo’s problems have persisted for his nation, with Ronaldo just scoring once – from the penalty spot – in three World Cup outings. Even so, his absence from the starting lineup on Tuesday night was a huge surprise.
Santos instead chose to give young striker Goncalo Ramos his full international debut, and the Benfica player struck the opening after 20 minutes and went on to scoring a hat-trick in the 6-1 win.
Speaking to reporters after the win on his decision to start Ramos over Ronaldo, Santos said as qouted by GOAL: “I already explained it (the situation surrounding Ronaldo being dropped), I won’t explain it again.
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They are different players. It was game strategy, all the players are different, I also launched Dalot, Raphael, however Cancelo is also a fabulous player. It was what I thought that we would need for this match against Switzerland.”
On Ronaldo’s role in the squad specifically, the manager added: “There is no problem between Fernando Santos and the captain of the national team (Ronaldo), we’ve been friends for many years. Players make decisions.
Things don’t affect us. I already explained, that part was completely resolved and he set a great example of a great captain.” I will always consider that he is a very important player to have in the team.
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