Portugal Coach Reveals Conversation With Ronaldo

Portugal coach Fernando Santos has explained how he told Cristiano Ronaldo he would not start against Switzerland, also revealing his reaction before dismissing talk the captain threatened to leave the camp.

Ronaldo, 37, saw himself dropped to the bench for the first time in a World Cup match since the 2006 tournament, with his replacement Goncalo Ramos scoring a hat-trick in A Selecao’s 6-1 thrashing over Switzerland.

Santos now explained that he told Ronaldo about his plans to bench hours before the game, because a player of his statue deserved to hear the coach’s thoughts on this decision.

“There was a conversation with Ronaldo, it would be bad if it hadn’t happened,” he said, as per SAPO24.

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“This conversation had to happen, I don’t do that to everyone, it’s true, but someone who is who he is, everything he represents to the Portuguese, naturally I had to have this conversation with him.

“It happened on the day of the game, after lunch. I didn’t have any conversation before. I explained to him the reasons why he wasn’t going to play. I said that I didn’t count on him at the beginning, that he would be very important during the match, that he could resolve the game in the second half.”

Santos also opened up on Ronaldo’s reaction, with the 37-year-old not happy about the coach’s decision but never threatening to leave the camp as some reports claimed.

“Cristiano was not satisfied, obviously, he always played in the starting line-up. He didn’t accept the arguments simply, but it was a normal conversation. But he never told me that he wanted to leave the selection,” he added.

“Cristiano did not tell me that he wanted to leave the national team, he celebrated with his colleagues and warmed up happy, and invited his colleagues to greet the fans after the end of the match.

“I think it is time to leave Ronaldo alone.”

Ronaldo has made 195 appearances for Portugal during which he scored a record 118 international goals, with eight of them coming at the five World Cup tournaments he took part in.

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Portugal will now face Morocco in their first World Cup quarter-final since 2016.