Goncalo Ramos produced one of the most remarkable World Cup debuts in history to fire Portugal into the quarter-finals of Qatar 2022 … after taking Cristiano Ronaldo’s place.
Fernando Santos sensationally dropped Ronaldo for the last-16 clash against Switzerland and called up 21-year-old Ramos, who had NEVER started a senior game for his country. And the young Benfica striker justified Santos’ decision by firing the first hat-trick of the tournament, a sensational treble that helped Portugal to a 6-1 romp and saw them emerge as serious contenders for the trophy.
But Santos denied there was any friction between him and Ronaldo and that he was not axed for disciplinary reasons. The Portugal manager said: “He is one of the best players in the world, the best captains, the best professionals.
“I have known him since he was 19, we have had a close relationship but we never misinterpret the human relationship with the manager and player relationship.
“I pick a strategy for each game. Goncalo is a very dynamic player and that is what suited the strategy.”
When asked directly if Ronaldo would play against Morocco, Santos replied: “Ronaldo will definitely (be involved), 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.”
And after his barely believable full debut, Ramos said: “Not even in my best dreams I even thought about being part of the starting 11 for the knockout phase …
“Cristiano did what he always does and not only helped and encouraged myself but all of us. He is our captain.”
Ramos scored the first, third and fifth Portuguese goals with veteran Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro and Rafael Leao completing a glorious half-dozen. Manuel Akanji scored Switzerland’s consolation.
Switzerland coach Murat Yakin conceded Portugal had been the better side but said whether Ronaldo started or not had no impact on the result.
“We have to admit that our opponent today was better, faster and more offensive,” he said. “Unfortunately, our game plan didn’t work out and we have to accept that and I congratulate our opponents on this win. Defeat is painful, we are sad about how we played.
“We had a clear game plan, we had practised it, we also had test games and the team was familiar with the system and formation.
“Whether Ronaldo is playing or not, all of our players are able to play football but the opponent got into the game better and we didn’t manage to get a good start, we saw that many things didn’t work out for us.”
