Fernando Santos, coach of the Portuguese national team (Alexander Hessenstein/Getty)
revealed Fernando Santos, Technical Director for the Portuguese national teamfor the first time about his relationship with the star of the team, Cristiano Ronaldocoinciding with the controversy caused by the latter’s absence from the starting line-up in the match against Switzerland, in the final price of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.
Santos spoke for a long time about Ronaldo, in the press conference for Portugal, on Friday, which precedes the confrontation with Morocco in the quarter-finals, on Saturday, saying: “Well, I will tell you everything. I had a long conversation with Ronaldo, and it was bad that we did not talk.”
He added, “Since I came to the leadership of Portugal, I have been keen to talk to the players in order to strengthen the relationship between us, of course not all of them, but as you know Ronaldo is the leader, I must talk to him given what he represents to the Portuguese people, the national team and football in the world in general.”
And he added, “On the day of the match and after lunch specifically, we did not fully talk before that. I sat with Ronaldo and explained to him the reason for not participating in the starting line-up. I did that so that he would not be surprised. I invited him to my office and told him that you would not participate as a starter. You are important to us, but this is our strategy.” We think it’s best for you not to start the meeting.”
And he continued, “I did it naturally and I do this with all the players. Cristiano, for obvious reasons, was not happy with the decision, because he participated in all previous matches with Portugal and only sat on the bench in two games, so he said to me (Do you think this idea is a good idea?)” .
Santos continued, “I explained my decision to him and we had a bold and natural dialogue. He was understanding in the end, but he never told me that he intended to leave the national team, so it is time for us to stop this controversy once and for all.”
He concluded his speech by saying, “You saw the day of the match when Ronaldo celebrated all the goals against Switzerland and was applauding the players after scoring.