Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal’s all-time record goalscorer, was benched for the last-16 match against Switzerland at the World Cup in Qatar. His place was taken by 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos, who starred with a hat-trick in a 6-1 victory. At 21 years and 169 days, Ramos became the youngest player to score a World Cup hat-trick since Hungary’s Florian Albert in 1962.
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Meanwhile, Ronaldo, with eight World Cup goals, is yet to score in six knockout appearances for Portugal at the tournament. Ronaldo had started every major tournament game for Portugal since 2008. Asked about Ronaldo at full-time, Ramos had said: “Ronaldo talks to me and everyone in the team. He’s our leader and always tries to help.”
Given how Ramos influenced the outcome against the Swiss,Portugal manager Fernando Santos will be hardpressed to swap him with the 37-year-old Ronaldo against Morocco on Saturday.
Santos had earlier said he “really didn’t like” Ronaldo’s reaction to being substituted after 65 minutes of game time against South Korea in the final group game.
However, Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, denied having any such reaction to the move. Earlier in the tournament, Ronaldo became the first man to score at five World Cups. Only time will tell if he will get another chance to add to his World Cup tally.
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