LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — “Ronaldo! Ronaldo!” sweeps biggest stadium world cup, Loud jeers ensued as fans realized their idol wasn’t playing.
In fact, Cristiano Ronaldo was sitting on Portugal’s dugout, looking sullen and wearing a substitute’s bib. And the man who started in his place on Tuesday is on the verge of a hat-trick.
After Ronaldo was dropped from the starting XI in a bold decision by Portugal boss Fernando Santos, the super striker’s unlikely replacement, Gonzalo Ramos, led the team to the World Cup with a 6-1 win over Switzerland In the quarterfinals, it became famous in one fell swoop. .
Ramos, a 21-year-old striker who only made his Portugal debut last month, showed that Ronaldo had scored his first goal in the 17th minute and others in the 51st and 67th minutes. Calm shot of the ball.
No player has scored a hat-trick in his first World Cup start since Germany striker Miroslav Klose in 2002.
“Even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined being part of the starting XI for the knockout stages,” said Ramos, an obscure striker who played for Benfica who paired Ronaldo with Roberto Lewando. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic count as his football idols.
Around the hour, fans at the 89,000-seat Lusail Stadium began begging Santos to play the 37-year-old Ronaldo, which they got in the 72nd minute. Portugal had ended the game at this point, with defenders Pepe and Rafael Guerrero also on target. Rafael Leao scored another goal in stoppage time.
Ronaldo, who didn’t score – he still hasn’t reached the knockout stages in his five World Cups – left the pitch alone, perhaps wondering where his career would go from here, after celebrating briefly with his team-mates after the final whistle .
He is currently without a club and may no longer be a starter for his country after leaving United midway through the World Cup.
The rest of the Portugal team applauded fans at one end of the stadium. With Saturday’s quarter-final against Morocco set to begin, Santos must now decide whether to keep Ramos or bring back Ronaldo, the top scorer in men’s international football and the sport’s greatest ever player one.
Santos said letting go of Ronaldo was a strategic decision rather than a disciplinary one, expressing his displeasure with the striker’s attitude after he was substituted in the team’s final group game in his pre-match news conference on Monday.
“What we have to do is think collectively about this team,” Santos said before referring to Ronaldo. “I will always think of him as a very important player in the team.”
That’s probably the backup and the experienced head of the locker room now, not the starters.
Ramos was an unexpected substitute – he had only made three caps for Portugal – and he took his chance.
Ramos, who was only 2 years old when Ronaldo made his debut in Portugal in 2003, scored his first hat-trick in this year’s World Cup.
He scored the first goal with a left-footed shot inside the near post of Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, the second deftly passing through Sommer’s legs from close range before running to score his third goal.
Ronaldo was seen smiling as he warmed up on the sidelines after Ramos’ second goal.
“Cristiano, as our captain, did what he always does,” Ramos said. “He helped us and encouraged us, not just myself, but my colleagues.”
Ramos even had an assist to score Guerrero’s fourth goal.
Ronaldo was lively when he came on, and he even thought he had scored when he ran up and fired a low left-footed shot past Sommer. The goal was disallowed for offside, much to the annoyance of fans from Portugal or other countries who came to watch him.
Switzerland’s only goal came in the 57th minute when Manuel Akanji scored from a corner at the far post.
long wait
Switzerland lost their third straight World Cup round of 16. The country has not reached the quarter-finals since the tournament was held in 1954.
oldest scorer
Pepe took over the captain’s armband from Ronaldo and became the oldest player to score in the knockout stage of this World Cup at 39 years and 283 days old.
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Steve Douglas at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
