Fernando Santos reveals Cristiano Ronaldo response to Portugal benching
Portugal boss Fernando Santos has opened up on the dialog he had with Cristiano Ronaldo by which he advised the ahead he can be dropped for his or her World Cup final 16 tie with Switzerland.
Santos advised the media final week that he was unimpressed with Ronaldo’s response after being substituted within the Selecao’s loss to South Korea. The 37-year-old was then benched for Tuesday’s conflict with Switzerland, although the coach claimed the change was nothing extra than a tactical tweak.
The choice proved an impressed one as Ronaldo’s direct alternative, Goncalo Ramos, scored a hat-trick in a complete 6-1 victory.
Talking forward of their World Cup quarter-final with Morocco, Santos revealed that Ronaldo understandably questioned the choice to take him out of the beginning lineup.
“It was on the matchday after lunch. I didn’t have a dialog with him earlier than that, not on Monday or Sunday,“ he mentioned.
“The one dialog I had was that day, the sport day and I defined why he wouldn’t play. After lunch we met, I defined why he wouldn’t be beginning. I defined to him so he wouldn’t be stunned. I invited him to my workplace and mentioned ‘Hear, you received’t be beginning, I believe you’ll be crucial however by way of technique, it’s higher in the event you don’t play’.
“I defined it was higher to avoid wasting him for the second half. I did it naturally as I all the time do with my gamers.
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“Cristiano naturally was not pleased as he has all the time been a starter aside from one or two video games. He was not pleased and he advised me, ‘Do you actually suppose it’s a good suggestion?’. However we had an necessary dialog by which I defined my view and naturally, he accepted. We had a frank and regular statement.”
However, Santos admitted that Ronaldo‘s angle has remained constructive and once more hit out at stories suggesting in any other case.
“He has by no means advised me that he needed to depart our nationwide workforce and as Joao [Felix] mentioned, I believe it’s excessive time we stopped with this dialogue as a result of an instance of what I simply mentioned is what he did within the match,“ he added.
“He was the one who began warming up with the gamers, regardless that he knew he wouldn’t be beginning he warmed up.
“Regardless that he didn’t begin, he celebrated together with his teammates, with Joao Mario. On the finish, he was the one who led the celebration with the followers. I believe it’s time you permit Ronaldo alone due to what he has performed for Portuguese soccer.”
