Bruno Fernandes has defended Cristiano Ronaldo after his former Manchester United teammate was dropped by Portugal for their crunch World Cup clash with Switzerland - insisting that nobody would be happy to sit out such a crucial match.
Ronaldo had started all three of Portugal's matches at the tournament in Qatar prior to Tuesday night's last-16 meeting with Switzerland, but he was dropped to the bench by Fernando Santos.
The 37-year-old's replacement, Goncalo Ramos, plundered a remarkable hat-trick in the Selecao's thumping 6-1 win, which could mean Ronaldo is consigned to a supporting role again in the quarter-finals.
Santos' decision to axe Ronaldo capped a rotten couple of months for the former United star, who agreed to cut his second spell at Old Trafford short a fortnight ago following a public falling out with Erik ten Hag.
Despite a statement performance, the narrative surrounding Portugal was still dominated by Ronaldo throughout and after the match. But Fernandes has launched a staunch defence of his international colleague - despite the fact there had been suggestions their relationship had become strained following an awkward exchange before the World Cup.
"Do you think anyone likes to be on the bench?" Fernandes responded when he was asked about Ronaldo's reaction after the match. "I don’t think Cristiano would be happy. If the manager put me on the bench in the next game, I would be angry."
He added: "We won the first two games with Cristiano in the first 11, and it could be that if Cristiano played, he could score three goals and no one would be speaking about Cristiano being on the bench.
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"Cristiano is doing his job, he’s doing his part, he’s happy with the result because the goal for everyone is to go as far as possible. I don’t think people should be talking about Cristiano and why he’s not playing, because when Cristiano plays and the team wins, no one talks about that.
"When Cristiano plays and the team loses, everyone talks. [He is] the most famous player in the world. No one is more famous than Cristiano in sports, not in football, in sports."
After Ramos' remarkable treble, it's hard to see Ronaldo muscling his way back into Portugal's starting line-up for their quarter-final against Morocco - but Santos insisted that the veteran would be involve' in the next match.
"Ronaldo will definitely [play]," he said. "All the players on the bench can be used. If they are not in the starting line-up they can play later. It is important to look at the example of this player’s history, he is one of the best players in the world at playing professionally, being captain – all we have to do is think about this team collectively."
