Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo questioned the decision of boss Fernando Santos to surprisingly drop him for the last-16 clash against Switzerland.
Ronaldo was informed by Santos on lunch of the day of the match that he would be replaced by Goncalo Ramos in the Portugal line-up; before the Benfica striker justified his inclusion by netting a sensational hat-trick in his side's 6-1 demolition of the Swiss side.
This led to claims that Ronaldo threatened to storm out of the nation’s World Cup training camp, which were criticised by the superstar, who alleged that “external forces” were trying to “break” the nation’s attempts of winning their first-ever World Cup title ahead of their quarter-final clash against Morocco.
Ronaldo’s role in South Korea’s equalising was called into question in the final group game, which preceded the striker’s angry reaction when being substituted off midway through the second half. Nevertheless, his exclusion from the starting XI against Switzerland was a pointed decision and a hugely surprising one, ending a run of 31 consecutive competitive matches started by Ronaldo at international level.
Santos has now detailed the conversation that took place with the 37-year-old in the build-up to the match, in a move to play down the suggestions that the talk was unusual or that any threat by the player to walk out of the squad had occurred.
“Yes we did have a conversation, and it would be very bad if we didn't have this,” Santos explained at a press conference on Friday. “Since I took the helm of the national team we need to talk and have a relationship with players, it's normal, that's my approach, to have a close relationship.
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“The conversation needed to happen. He's the captain of our squad, you know what he represents for Portugal football and the Portuguese people. Naturally, I needed to talk to him.
“When we had this conversation, it was on the matchday after lunch, I didn't have a conversation with him before that, not on Sunday or Monday. It was on the day of the game after lunch. We met, and I explained to him why he would not be one of the starters, I explained it to him so he would not be surprised.”
Santos continued, detailing Ronaldo's response: “I explained to him that it was better for the strategy that he wouldn't start, and that it was better for him to play in the second half. Cristiano was not happy about it. He has always been a starting player. He asked 'Do you think it's a good idea?' We had a normal conversation and I explained my viewpoints.”
Addressing reports that Ronaldo had considered walking away from the camp, Santos added: “He has never told me that he wanted to leave the team. I think it's high time we stopped this conversation.
“An example of what i just said is what he did in the match. He started warming up with the players, he warmed up with colleagues and celebrated all goals scored. At the end he invited colleagues to thank fans. It's high time for you to leave Ronaldo alone for what he has done for Portuguese football.”
