Fernando Santos rapped: ‘Leave Cristiano Ronaldo alone’ as he scotched reports Portugal’s skipper wanted to quit the World Cup.
The head coach of the Selecao hit back at suggestions that the 37-year-old threw a strop after being sidelined for the last 16 clash against Switzerland.
He launched into a lengthy monologue in defence of his country’s greatest goalscorer as he attempted to draw a line under the maelstrom that continues to swirl around the superstar. Santos’s decision to omit Ronaldo paid off in spectacular fashion as Portugal battered the Swiss 6-1 to reach the quarter-final.
Ronaldo’s replacement, Goncalo Ramos netted a hat-trick in little more than an hour, leaving the ex-Real Madrid man as little more than a bystander.
However, Santos detailed their crunch meeting when he told Ronaldo that he would be omitted - and blasted reports that he wanted to leave Qatar. He said: “Yes we did have a conversation. It would have been bad if we had not had this conversation.
“Since I took the helm of the national team we needed to have a closer relationship with the players. That’s my approach, to have a close relationship with them.
“So, that conversation needed to happen. I don’t do that with all the players. But he’s the captain of our squad. What he represents for Portuguese football, the people and its national team, I naturally needed to talk to him.
“I talked to him after lunch on the match day ahead of the Switzerland game. I did not have any conversation before that. It was the only conversation I had with him on that day and I explained to him why he would not be playing. I explained why he wouldn’t be started. I did it so he wouldn’t be surprised.
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“I invited him to my office and told him: “It’s better for our strategy if you didn’t play.” I said I’d save him for the second half.
“Cristiano was not very happy about it. He has always been one of the starting players. He wasn’t happy about it. He said: ‘Do you really think it’s a good idea?’ We had a conversation which explained my viewpoints.
“He never told me he wanted to leave. So, it’s high time we stopped with the polemics of this conversation. An example of what I just said is what he did at the match. He warmed up with the players. Even if he knew he wasn’t going to play.
“He celebrated all the goals we scored. At the end, he was the one who invited his colleagues to think the fans. It’s time to leave Ronaldo alone in acknowledgement of what he has done for Portuguese football.”
