LUSAIL, Qatar — Fernando Santos made the boldest decision of his 35-year managerial career for a devastatingly simple reason. He took Cristiano Ronaldo, the greatest goalscorer in men's international soccer history, out of Portugal's starting lineup for a must-win World Cup match. He replaced his magnetic captain with a 21-year-old who'd never started for the national team, and so, as the stunning news spread on Tuesday night, basic logic assumed that the move was disciplinary — that Santos, amid constant Ronaldo drama, had finally snapped.
. He replaced his magnetic captain with a 21-year-old who'd never started for the national team, and so, as the stunning news spread on Tuesday night, basic logic assumed that the move was disciplinary — that Santos, amid constant Ronaldo drama, had finally snapped.
He’d benched the most famous person in all of Portugal, rather, because here and now, in 2022, Ramos is a better soccer player.And 70 minutes of flowing soccer on Tuesday night showed why it will surely be a permanent one., teammates gushed about Ramos and his impact. When asked what differentiated him from the average striker, Bruno Fernandes initially responded with a chuckle."He scored three goals," Fernandes said,"so I think it's an easy question.
“Today was the goals that he scored,” Fernandes said of Ramos, “but he's a player that works a lot, that runs a lot. He helps the team [a lot] defensively. He's that type of striker that is everywhere.”
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