Portugal coach Fernando Santos confirmed that he was not going to change his decision to sit Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench even after the exit from the quarter-finals of the World Cup after losing 1-0 to Morocco on Saturday.
Ronaldo, Portugal’s all-time top scorer with 118 goals in 195 international matches, sat as a substitute during the 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the round of sixteen last Tuesday, and his replacement Goncalo Ramos managed to score three goals in his fourth international match only.
Ronaldo, who participated early in the second half without leaving a mark against Morocco, collapsed on the bench on Saturday after the final whistle, and cried heartily while the rest of his teammates tried to support him and stand next to him.
Santos said in a press conference on Saturday, “I do not feel regret about Ronaldo sitting as an alternative. I was not going to change anything. When it comes to the team, it is not possible to think about my heart,” according to Archyde.com.
He continued, “I relied on the team that performed well against Switzerland, and there was no reason for me to change against Morocco.”
And the Portugal coach continued, “The strategic decision I made was one of the most difficult decisions, but I cannot think with my heart, and I must think with my mind.”
He pointed out, “It is no longer the case that Ronaldo is not a great player. It is not about that at all.”
Immediately after the announcement of the referee of the quarter-final match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which brought together the Moroccan national team, which snatched the qualifying card for the semi-finals at the expense of Portugal, the star of the team, “Don” Ronaldo, fell to the ground crying from the bitterness of exclusion.
Ronaldo, who was not included in the starting line-up, made attempts to adjust the score in favor of his team, which was lagging behind the “Atlas Lions” due to the goal of Youssef Al-Nusairi, who was shaken by Al-Thumama Stadium, but he did not succeed in front of the solidity of Morocco’s defense and its goalkeeper Bono, who was a stronghold against the attacks of Portugal in full. his stars.
AndThe Moroccan team succeeded In writing a new page in the history of the FIFA World Cup, on Saturday, after qualifying for the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time in the history of its participation, after defeating Portugal with a clean goal in the World Cup in Qatar, to also become the first African and Arab team to reach this stage.
And at Al-Thumama Stadium in Doha, Youssef Al-Nusairi scored the match’s only goal in the 42nd minute, giving the brown continent the first card in its history to the round of four for the World Wedding.
Quoted by AFP Earlier That for a player the size of Ronaldo, who was the image of the national team for nearly two decades with his 195 matches and 118 goals (an international record), to play a tournament the size of the World Cup and many talk about the need for coach Santos not to include him in order not to affect the performance of the national team, this is a very big indication of Bad status as the best player in the world five times.
And the Portuguese newspaper “A Bola” came out with the headline “A little Ronaldo, more Portugal,” wanting to focus on the national team, which remains its only coronation in the 2016 European Cup.
And little Ronaldo gave his advantage in the final price round against Switzerland, as Santos started the match without his 37-year-old captain, so that the team was completely freed from his “dominance” and emerged victorious over Switzerland 6-1 thanks to a hat-trick for a much less famous player in the person of Goncalo Ramos, according to AFP.