Cristiano Ronaldo was left out of Portugal’s starting XI for Tuesday’s World Cup round-of-16 match against Switzerland on the heels of his actions while being subbed out during the team’s previous match. His replacement, 21-year-old Gonçalo Ramos, went onto score a hat trick in Portugal’s comfortable 6–1 victory over the Swiss side.
Ronaldo later came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute of the win, but failed to score his first goal in a World Cup knockout round match.
Just last week, Ronaldo was visibly frustrated as he walked off the field in the second half of Portugal’s final group play game against South Korea. Videos showed the 37-year-old striker having a brief verbal spat with a South Korean player and also showed him appearing to complain that manager Fernando Santos was “in a rush to sub me.”
