You leave Cristiano Ronaldo and whoever you choose him better not miss. Gonzalo Ramos is 21 years old. He made his international debut last month. Before Tuesday, he had played just 36 minutes in international football. However, within 17 minutes he had surpassed Ronaldo for World Cup goals; He scored Qatar's first hat-trick of 2022 midway through the second half.
Fernando Santos couldn't be more obvious. Ramos emphasized that there were no national teams in the quarter-final against Morocco.
Santos was crumpled up like someone who slept in a car. He could be Peter Falk who plays in Colombo. He's not one to do anything interesting, so it felt significant when he criticized Ronaldo's gesture against South Korea after being substituted the day before the game.
Ronaldo himself claimed it was aimed at South Korean striker Cho Kuk-sung, who tried to send him off the pitch, but given a similar situation at Manchester United, there is a perception in Portugal that it was aimed at his growing number of critics. A poll by sports newspaper A Bola showed that 70 percent of readers thought he should not start against the Swiss.
Ronaldo seemed genuinely delighted by it all, joining the crowd of celebrations after Pepe's goal, laughing after Ramos' second and standing up to applaud the fourth. From time to time, the big screens in the four corners of the stadium flashed an image of Ronaldo sitting on the bench, causing fits of excited screams. It all felt a little awkward, especially when the crowd started chanting his name and when Santos refused to accede to their demands, Santos has never been the most instinctive crowd pleaser. The whole time he sat expressionless, his chin resting on his hand.
