Will Cristiano Ronaldo get benched again? CR7 fans may not like what Portugal manager Fernando Santos said

Ronaldo had an altercation with Lee Sung-Jae of South Korea as soon as he was asked to come out, and the Portugal manager has since expressed his unhappiness with the event. Santos said at first that he didn’t hear anything on the pitch as he was far away. But, when he saw the video footage, he was not happy about it at all.

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Many thought that this was the reason why Ronaldo was sidelined during the crucial match against Switzerland. And, Santos’ gamble with Goncalo Ramos turned out to be massively successful as the 21-year-old, never heard of before Qatar 2022, scored a hat-trick. Now, he seems extremely unlikely to be dropped in the remaining games that Portugal will play in the tournament.

Santos was questioned about dropping Ronaldo from the starting eleven. Santos said he had already explained it before and would not explain it again. 

“They are different players. It was a game strategy. All the players are different. I also launched Dalot, Raphael, however Cancelo is also a fabulous player. It was what I thought that we would need for this match against Switzerland,” Goal.com quoted the Portuguese coach as saying.

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While Fernando Santos’ comments indicated that Ronaldo could be dropped again depending on the “game strategy”, he said there was no issue with Ronaldo. Ronaldo and Santos have a long history of friendship and are unaffected by such events, Santos added while saying that the issue had been fully resolved. CR7 has shown what a great captain should be like, as per Santos.

Three substitutions were made by Portugal in the 72nd minute, and Ronaldo took the place of hat-trick hero Ramos. Ronaldo took a free kick four minutes after arriving but failed to convert. Ronaldo attempted to score in the 84th minute by driving the ball past Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, but the offside flag was raised, depriving the superstar of his chance.

(With ANI inputs)