Doug McIntyre
football journalist
AL DAAYEN, Qatar – Cristiano Ronaldo did his best to hide his disappointment.
Despite not being called up by coach Fernando Santos for Tuesday’s round of 16 match against Switzerland – with a streak of 18 consecutive World Cup starts since 2006 – the 37-year-old superstar showed a brave face before, during and throughout the game after his team’s dominating 6-1 win.
Wearing a yellow FIFA jersey along with the other Portuguese substitutes, Ronaldo smiled and winked at fans during the warm-up. He joined the pile of bodies after Gonçalo Ramos, his 21-year-old replacement in Santos’ starting XI, scored after just 17 minutes.
Portugal dominates
While Cristiano Ronaldo was on the bench, his successor Gonçalo Ramos scored the first hat-trick of the 2022 World Cup.
He seemed genuinely happy as 39-year-old centre-back Pepe, his friend and long-time team-mate at both national team and Real Madrid, doubled the Seleção’s advantage later in the first half with a rare goal – only his eighth in 132 Stakes for him country.
Inside, however, Ronaldo had to be furious.
“I realize sometimes people are not happy and we have to deal with that,” Santos told reporters after the game. “As I said in my previous press conference, I think these issues have been resolved. I said that and I repeat myself. This is something that is finished.”
We will see.
One of the greatest players of his generation, Ronaldo has been making it clear for months, if not years, that he has no intention of quietly riding into the sunset.
So upset was he by his lack of a starring role at Manchester United this season – still starting in some games and coming off the bench in others, at least until he refused to play a Premier League game in October – that he got his way forced mid-season by very publicly and very deliberately setting fire to the club’s owners and manager.
[Related: Ronaldo will reportedly join Saudi club Al Nassr in January]
Indeed, Ronaldo has featured in Santos’ line-up in each of Portugal’s first three games and his disgruntled reaction to last week’s late elimination in the first-round final against South Korea understandably infuriated his coach.
Santos insisted benching Ronaldo against the Swiss was tactical and not punitive. That could be true. Ronaldo is a luxury player at this point in his legendary career. He remains just as efficient a finisher in the penalty area as he is in sports. Outside of that, he can’t or won’t make the non-stop defensive run demanded of all modern forwards.
Fernando Santos Cristiano Ronaldo’s benches
Alexi Lalas, Maruice Edu and Clint Dempsey discuss Portugal’s decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the Switzerland game.
“Cristiano is more fixed, he stays in one area, he’s playing more towards the box now,” said Santos. “Ramos has different qualities. He sees his opportunities dynamically.”
It was a monumental decision nonetheless.
Ronaldo had played every minute for Portugal in the last three World Cups. It is now clear that he will only play a supporting role.
Ramos scored the Seleção’s third goal and then completed his hat-trick in the 67th minute. He’s not going back to the bench. And Ronaldo is unlikely to rejoin, at least not from the start, although Santos would not confirm that.
“Morocco are a very strong and competitive team that will offer us different challenges,” he said of Portugal’s quarter-final opponents who upset Spain earlier on Tuesday. “We have to make the decisions that we think are the best in this game in terms of strategy.”
If Ronaldo continues to sit, how will he deal with this humiliation not only in public but behind the scenes? Will he be a good soldier hoping his teammates can help him win his first World Cup title, similar to 2016 when he injured himself in the first half of the triumphant Euro 2016 final? Of course that was different. Ronaldo was the undisputed alpha dog back then. If he doesn’t play well now, his battered pride could end up torpedoing Portugal’s hopes instead.
It’s hard to say which way things will go, although early signs are promising.
“Cristiano did what he always does as our captain,” said Ramos after being named player of the match. “He helped us, he encouraged – not only me, but also my colleagues.”
But even in his absence on Tuesday, Ronaldo was still the main attraction. More photographer lenses were focused on him, who was on the bench before the game, than on the Portugal regular.
A recent poll by Portuguese newspaper A Bola claimed 70% of respondents wanted Ronaldo to be benched, but that was not the reality at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Tuesday. The fans in attendance, dressed in red and green, let out a huge cheer as Ronaldo began to warm up in the second half. Then they started chanting his name.
Gonçalo Ramos completes the hat trick
Portugal’s Gonçalo Ramos scored the tournament’s first hat-trick with goals in the 17th, 51st and 67th minutes.
All of this puts Santos in an incredibly difficult position.
“I have a very close relationship with him that I have always had,” said Santos. “I’ve known him since he was 19. I don’t think Ronaldo has ever misinterpreted our personal relationship or our player-coach relationship.”
“He’s a very important player in the team.”
When their hero finally replaced Ramos with just over fifteen minutes to go, the thunderous response was as loud as any of Portugal’s five goals. Pepe dutifully ran over to hand him the captain’s armband he had put on in his place.
Ronaldo almost stole the show late on but his goal was nullified by an offside flag. After that, he led the team and applauded the fans. He was also the first player to disappear down the tunnel.
Portugal showed on Tuesday that they don’t need Ronaldo to win this World Cup. But it still won’t just be a story the rest of the way, it’ll be the story. He always is. How this story ends has not been written.
It’s going to be a fascinating story either way.
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Doug McIntyre is a football writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer at ESPN and Yahoo Sports and has covered the United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @By DougMcIntyre.
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