Fernando Santos has defended Cristiano Ronaldo and revealed that telling the Portugal superstar he had been dropped from the last 16 showdown with Switzerland was just “a normal conversation”.
Ronaldo was left on the bench for the thrashing of the Swiss, with Benfica’s 21-year-old striker Gonçalo Ramos selected to lead the attack instead.
While much of the pre-match focus was duly about Ronaldo’s absence, the Seleccao duly made light of it, with an inspired Ramos scoring a hat-trick in a 6-1 win. Ronaldo was duly used as a second half substitute, but much has since been made about Santos’ decision. The former Manchester United star was notably the first man off the pitch after the win - having initially guided teammates to applaud supporters - before reports this week suggested that Ronaldo had threatened to leave the squad and the World Cup behind.
