Cristiano Ronaldo has been benched once again by Fernando Santos as Portugal take on Morocco in the World Cup Quarter-Final.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner was left out of the starting XI for Goncalo Ramos in the Round of 16 win over Portugal, with the Benfica No.88 scoring a hat-trick in a 6-1 win.
Ramos has rightfully earned another start for Portugal as a result, although many are wondering why Santos has benched Ronaldo in the first place. Let’s take a look…
Why is Ronaldo benched?
Well, Ronaldo’s last start at the World Cup in Qatar came as Portugal suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to South Korea in their final game of Group H.
The 37-year-old was withdrawn by Santos in the 65th minute of that particular clash, and the 68-year-old revealed after full-time that he was far from happy with the Portugal No.7’s reaction to being taken off.
Santos said: “Have I already watched the footage? Yes. I didn’t like it. Didn’t like it at all. From there, it’s things you sort out internally.”
The Portugal boss also revealed that he had a “frank” conversation with Ronaldo, in which he explained why he felt the team would be better off with Ramos starting instead, which the man let go by Manchester United was not happy about.
The Guardian quote Santos as saying: “We met and I explained why he would not be one of the starters, so he would not be surprised. In my office, I told him in terms of strategy it is better if you don’t play.
“Cristiano, for obvious reasons, was not very happy about it. He has always been a starting player. He said: ‘Do you really think it’s a good idea?’ But we had a normal conversation. I explained my viewpoints, he accepted. We had a frank and normal conversation.”
It comes after Ronaldo also expressed unhappiness towards Erik ten Hag after being consistency left out of Manchester United’s starting XI.
Ronaldo revealed he had “no respect” for the Dutchman in an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, which led to his contract being terminated by the Red Devils.
Cristiano Ronaldo profile
Full name: Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
Age: 37
Date of birth: 5th February 1985
Nationality: Portugal
Place of birth: Funchal, Madeira
Salary: N/A at club level (earned £480,000-a-week at Manchester United before contract terminated)
Net worth: £408m
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