Cristiano Ronaldo has made yet another headline ahead of the World Cup round of 16 stage. Portugal is going to play against Switzerland to reach their third World Cup quarterfinals. And Ronaldo has landed himself in hot water with Portugal’s head coach Fernando Santos. Cristiano is already having a bad reputation with the coaches after the Manchester United incident. Now the headline suggests that the 37-year-old tends to have become bigger than the coaches. However, the story unfolds quite differently when taking a closer look at the situation.
Cristiano Ronaldo Can Miss The Next Match For Portugal
Portugal ended the group stages on the top of the table as they would have liked. But the final game of the group stage did not turn out as the Portuguese would have expected. The game, which remained at par until the 90 minutes, ended with an extra-time goal for the South Korean team. Eventually, Ronaldo’s side lost the game 2-1 on the night. However, the loss did not do any damage for the Portuguese side as they were already the table toppers. But the win helped the Koreans to move ahead of Uruguay to reach the round of 16.
In the same game, Ronaldo was looking for his ninth goal in the World Cup to break the record for the most number of goals in the World Cups. But the four-time Ballon D’or winner only played for 65 minutes before getting subbed by Santos. However, Cristiano being always hungry for more did not like the idea. Meanwhile, a Korean player also told him to leave the pitch faster, which led to an outburst from the Portuguese striker. Later, Fernando explained that the former United striker was angry with the Korean player. And the head coach has also expressed his views about Ronaldo’s reaction.
In Tuesday’s interview ahead of the Switzerland game, Santos discussed Cristiano’s reaction in the last game. The head coach told the press that he did not like what happened on the pitch one bit. However, that incident only got over then and there, they now look past the incident for the next match. It becomes a top priority for the team to win the match if Portugal wants to see themselves in the final. Ronaldo and the company must bring their best game on the night, as teams like Brazil, Argentina, and England have already qualified.
The underdogs have displayed a great performance at World Cup this year. But the giants have taken over the round of 16. As for the lineup, Santos said that he would decide the lineup when he will reach the stadium. He did not single out Ronaldo when speaking about captaincy and a spot in the playing eleven. Whatever the scenario inside the locker room remains, the game is the important issue at hand. If they lose, they are out of the World Cup. And with Lionel Messi already in the quarterfinals, Ronaldo will also like to move ahead in the competition.