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‘What a shame’: Cristiano Ronaldo’s girlfriend criticises Portugal boss for dropping him against Switzerland

Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Portugal was up against Switzerland in their Round of 16 match of the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday night (Wednesday IST). But to everyone’s surprise, for this all-important match, Portugal boss Fernando Santos dropped Ronaldo to the bench. The 37-year-old was not selected in the starting XI, and in his place, Gancalo Ramos was handed his first start. And the 21-year-old lived up to the billing by scoring a hat-trick in his team’s 6-1 win over the Swiss team at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Ronaldo, who didn’t start a game for Portugal in any major tournament for the first time since 2008, was introduced from the bench in the 73rd minute, but he failed to make any significant impact. He found the back of the net once, but that attempt was ruled out due to an offside call in the buildup.

After the game, Ronaldo’s girlfriend, Georgina Rodriguez, took to Instagram to share a post in which he slammed Portugal coach Fernando Santos for benching him.
The Argentine-born model captioned the post, “Congratulations Portugal. While the 11 players sang the anthem all goals placed on you. What a shame he didn’t get to enjoy the best player in the world for the 90 minutes. The fans haven’t stopped claiming you and screaming your name. I hope God and your dear friend Fernando hold hands and make us vibrate one more night.”
After the end of the Round of 16 match, Portugal’s boss opened up about his decision to drop Ronaldo for the all-important knockout match and said that it had been “strategic and nothing more.”
“Cristiano and Ramos are different players. There is no problem with the captain of the national team,” Santos said.
“It was strategic. Players are different. I also started Diogo Dalot, Raphael Guerrero; however, Joao Cancelo is a fabulous player. That’s what I thought for the game against Switzerland; in another game, it might be different.”
With the win over Switzerland, Portugal managed to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2006 edition of the FIFA World Cup. They will next take the field on Saturday (December 10) against Morocco.

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