Substitute in the round of 16, will Cristiano Ronaldo find a starting place in the quarterfinals?
A priori, CR7 will have to play once again with model companions, on the bench…
This is the question that everyone is asking about Portugal from now on. To everyone’s surprise, Fernando Santo took a completely different approach approaching the round of 16 against Swiss : do without Cristiano Ronaldo, remained on the substitutes bench. This strategy, considered by many to be daring, has proved very profitable ever since Portugal had a fabulous festival winning 6 goals to 1, thanks notably to a hat-trick from the country’s star substitute, Goncalo Ramos. Opposite to Morocco this Saturday at 4pm for a place in the semi-finals of world Cupthe Portugal could do the same.
An interesting solution
Not necessarily in great shape since the start of the competition, as since the start of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo then started on the bench for the match against Morocco. A Manchester United, things went very badly, so much so that the club ended up breaking the contract that united them. Lacking sensation as he approaches world football’s biggest competition, the Portuguese has arrived with almost no benchmarks and is still looking for himself. He scored only one goal, after a disputed penalty against Ghana. It is therefore logical that he was sidelined for the round of 16, and given the performance of Portugal, Fernando Santo could recur.
Portugal before Cristiano Ronaldo :
→ 3 titles in CDM
→ 3 EURO qualifiers
→ No trophiesPortugal after Cristiano Ronaldo:
→ 5 titles in CDM
→ 5 EURO qualifiers
→ 2 trophiesRespect for his career ✨🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/BfJhk5GjiK
— BeFootball (@_BeFootball) December 9, 2022
A larger group?
As often in his career, Cristiano Ronaldo he relies on the good balls given by his teammates to score and shine. But at the moment, he may no longer be able to evolve to a very high level to take the Portugal to the grail. If we don’t know yet if Fernando Santo will adopt the same strategy to deal with the Moroccothe coach was still quite clear: “I think of this team as a collective”. Se looked quite smiling on the substitutes bench against the Swiss, Cristiano Ronaldo he saw his clan react to the situation. If his wife regretted the absence of the “best player for 90 minutes”, his sister didn’t hide her anger on the networks. “It’s a shame to humiliate a man who has given so much” he confided.
I’m not sure if it works in his favor…
Morocco – Portugal, which channel and at what time?
The kick-off of the match between the Moroccosurprise guest of these World Cup quarter-finals, and the Portugal, the team that made the most impression in the round of 16, will take place this Saturday at 16:00. All the Moroccan people were able to follow the exploits of their national team TF1, clear. But also up BEIN Sports 1.
