Portugal’s hat-trick hero Goncalo Ramos said he had not even dreamt of starting a World Cup knockout match, let alone scoring three in his first start in the tournament.
The 21-year-old striker was handed a surprise start ahead of five-times Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and rewarded coach Fernando Santos with a brilliant match-winning display. “Not even in my wildest dreams did I think of making my first start in a World Cup knockout game and scoring three goals,” he said. “But we have to think game by game and prepare for the game [quarter-final with Morocco]. This result doesn’t matter now. We’re going to go all out in the next game.”
Ramos was only making his fourth appearance for the national side, having played ten minutes across two games in the group stage. He only made his debut on November 17 in a pre-World Cup friendly against Nigeria, coming on as a 67th minute substitute and promptly scoring 15 minutes later with the fourth goal in a 4-0 win. Born in Algarve, the forward has burst onto the scene with Benfica this season after being given an enhanced role as the central striker following the sale of Darwin Nunez to Liverpool.
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