Portugal coach calls for "Leave Ronaldo alone"

The coach of the Portuguese national football team, Fernando Santos, confirmed today that the star Cristiano Ronaldo was not happy to keep him on the bench against Switzerland in the final price, but he did not threaten to leave the "Seleção" camp in Europe in the World Cup Qatar 2022. In the face of the final price against Switzerland, something happened that did not happen. Can be imagined when Santos kept Ronaldo (37), five times the best player in the world, out of the starting line-up, and the match ended in a crushing Portuguese victory 6-1.

Ironically, his replacement, the young Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos (21 years), managed to steal the limelight from him by scoring a wonderful hat-trick, the first in this World Cup, thus becoming the second youngest player to achieve this achievement in the knockout stages after the legend Pele in 1958. And during a press conference in Doha on the eve of the confrontation Morocco in the quarter-finals Santosh touched on this issue, saying, "Ronaldo and I had a conversation. It would have been too bad if we hadn't. Since I took over the coaching, I've always done that. I talk and build up my relationship with them."

He added, "I will not say that I do this with all the players, but he (Ronaldo) is the captain of the national team, and because he is what he represents for Portuguese football and the Portuguese people."

Santosh added that the conversation "was on the day of the match after lunch. I did not speak to him before that. I explained to him why he would not start. I explained to him so that he would not be surprised, and I invited him to my office and told him to listen... This is my strategy. I thought the match would be difficult and I wanted to keep him." for the second half.”

And he added, "He was not happy with this decision. He said to me: 'Do you really think this is a good idea?' So I explained to him my point of view and he accepted my decision."

Portuguese newspaper Record reported Thursday that Ronaldo had threatened to leave after a fraught conversation with Santos.

And while the local association of the game denied this news completely, Santos said, "He never told me that he wanted to leave the national team. It is time for us to stop this controversy. It was Ronaldo who started warm-up exercises with his colleagues and celebrated all the goals. He called his colleagues to greet the fans. It is time Let's leave Ronaldo alone, he is very important for Portuguese football."

On the other hand, Santosh spoke about facing Morocco, saying, "The Moroccan national team is very strong and organized. They have players who play in the most important leagues with Chelsea (English), Paris Saint-Germain (French) and Bayern Munich (Germany)."

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