Cristiano Ronaldo was subbed on for Portugal in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match against Morocco at the Al Thumama Stadium in Qatar, on Saturday.
Ronaldo earned his 196th international cap, equalling the men’s all-time record with Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa.
Earlier, the 37-year-old started from the bench - his second match as a substitute (for Portugal) in a row for the first time since 2008. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward has fallen in the pecking order after Goncalo Ramos scored a hattrick in the previous match.
Portugal went on to win the match 6-1 as Ronaldo, despite coming on in the 74th minute, failed to find a goal to his name.
Against Morocco, the story of the match has been a bit different so far. In the quarterfinal match, Yahia Attiyat Allah’s cross was headed into the net by Youssef En-Nesyri, who scored his third goal of the tournament and gave Morocco the lead.
Though Ronaldo coming on was expected at half-time, that did not happen and the highest international goalscorer in men’s football was seen warming up on the sidelines, wearing his bib.
Seven minutes into the second half, head coach Fernando Santos finally made the switch seven minutes after the second-half kick-off.
Two changes were made at the same time, with Joao Cancelo and Cristiano Ronaldo replacing Raphael Guerreiro and Ruben Neves respectively.
More to follow.
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