After their first objective, the Portuguese gamers sprinted to the nook flag to have fun. In the center of the merriment, as standard, stood Cristiano Ronaldo, although he was not the one who scored.
He was not even within the beginning lineup for Portugal. Ronaldo, elite of the elite, started the knockout-stage match in opposition to Switzerland on the bench, despatched there for insubordination, meager play or maybe a mixture of each.
In his place began Gonçalo Ramos, who on his first contact of consequence despatched a left-footed marvel strike contained in the close to submit. Portugal added one other, on a thunderous header by Pepe within the thirty third minute, and Ronaldo ran over to congratulate him after that one, too.
Portugal leads by 2-0 with 45 minutes remaining, and although the opportunity of a quarterfinal battle for Iberian Peninsula supremacy evaporated with Spain’s dismissal earlier immediately, a date with Morocco — a neighbor of kinds — on Saturday appears doubtless.
Ronaldo’s effectiveness has sagged from recreation to recreation, and he was slightly pissed off to get replaced so early — within the sixty fifth minute — of Portugal’s final group-stage match, in opposition to South Korea. So he watched from the bench, carrying the yellow pinnie of a substitute, as Ramos ripped the primary objective and almost scored a second simply earlier than halftime.
Had that one gone in from Ramos, a 21-year-old striker who performs for Benfica, Portugal’s coach, Fernando Santos, might need been moved to take him out prematurely of the quarterfinal — for some brisker legs, maybe these of Ronaldo.
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