Estadio Lusail, Qatar /
Portugal It has just become the beast that nobody wants to run into in the rest of the Qatar World Cup 2022 and all thanks to a devastating 6-1 against Switzerland in the Round of 16, which puts them among one of the “silent favourites” of the contest, and that They left Cristiano Ronaldo as a substitute up to 70′.
What should have been an even game was quickly dominated by Portugal who took the ball and spread talent with players like Joao Félix, Gonçalo Ramos and Bruno Fernandeswho received the confidence of being starters.
Why didn’t CR7 play as a starter?
and not like Cristiano Ronaldo, who remained on the bench by decision of coach Fernando Santos. This because the DT decided not to use CR7 start after insult of the striker after leaving the change in the game against South Korea. For 90 minutes this Tuesday they didn’t need Bicho because everything went perfectly for the Portuguese offense.
Portugal vs. Switzerland; Round of 16 match summary
In Cristiano’s place they sent Gonçalo Ramos as the starter, who until before the World Cup had only played one game with Portugal. No one expected anything from “player 26” on the roster, but tonight in Qatar was uncovered with a tripletstarting with a shot at the angle at 17 minutes.
The Swiss who had to adjust in search of the match… and they paid dearly for it. The goal led them to modify their strategy so as not to stay on the road, but by trying to offend they were exposed to some Portuguese who without CR7 -who seemed to stop them in the previous games-, flew to the front.
It was a duel where the veteran Pepe found his World Cup goal at the age of 39. Somewhat that he put him among the five oldest players in the history of the tournament who manage to celebrate a goal, his own with a header from a corner kick.
Ramos got his hat-trick with a couple more shots, the third in excellent form after taking advantage of another filtered pass and scoring the ball to rock the nets. Also, the side Raphael Guerreiro got another goal y Rafael Leao closed the party with a shot to great effect that stood up goalkeeper Sommer at 6-1, with the only goal for Switzerland through Manuel Akanji al 58′.
It is the third time that the Portuguese have entered the Quarterfinals in history. The first was in 1966 in England, then it was in Germany 2006 and finally in Qatar, in the fifth World Cup in Cristiano Ronaldo, who did come on as a substitute at 70′ to a standing ovation. He actually scored, but it was disallowed for obvious offside.
All the goals of Portugal-Switzerland / VIDEO