Portugal beat Switzerland without Cristiano and will be rivals Morocco

There will be no Iberian duel in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar. If Spain fell on penalties against Morocco, Portugal lived up to predictions and qualified with a scandalous win over disappointing Switzerland (6-1). And the message that Fernando Santos sent to the other great candidates to win the title was as strong or stronger than the victory: without Cristiano Ronaldo you can win and overcome.

The Portuguese coach, as he publicly admitted, did not like the insult directed at him by the figure and team captain when he replaced him midway through the second half against South Korea. And, at age 68, the technician’s pulse never trembled. Even a legend like CR7 cannot be touched. Before, not anymore.

Backed by the current sector of Portuguese fans demanding a crack replacement, the risky bet could not have gone better for Fernando Santos as the player he chose to replace him, Gonçalo Ramos, silenced any hint of controversy that scored a rare ‘hat trick’, the first in the World Cup in Qatar.

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The impact of the Benfica striker, almost 21 years old, was immediate as after fifteen minutes he opened the scoring after receiving from a resurgent Joao Félix and unleashing a left-footed shot at the near post that slid over the top. corner against a surprised Yann Sommer.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence from the starting eleven meant that Pepe wore the bracelet and the former Real Madrid player also came out not only marking territory in defense but also showing that he is still a competitive beast at the age of 39, who made it 2-0 with a corner with a powerful header after leaping between the two center backs.

Pepe became the oldest player to score in the knockout phase of a World Cup but the leading role went to Gonçalo Ramos, who seemed to have a magnet on his feet.

PORTUGAL

61

Switzerland

Portugal: Diogo Costa; Dalot, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Guerreiro; Otávio (Vitinha, m.73), William Carvalho, Bernardo Silva (Rúben Neves, m.81); Bruno Fernandes (Rafa Leao, m.87); Gonçalo Ramos (Cristiano Ronaldo, m.74) and João Félix (Ricardo Horta, m.73).

Switzerland: Summer; Edmilson Fernandes, Schär (Comert, m.46), Akanji, Ricardo Rodríguez; Freuler (Zakaria, m.54), Xhaka; Shaqiri, Sow (Seferovic, m.54), Vargas (Okafor, m.66); and Embolo (Jashari, m.89).

Goals, 1-0, M.17: Gonçalo Ramos. 2-0, M.33: Pepe. 3-0, M.51: Gonçalo Ramos. 4-0, M.55: Raphael Guerreiro. 4-1, M.58: Akanji. 5-1, M.67: Gonçalo Ramos. 6-1, M.92: Rafa Leao.

Referee: César Ramos (Mexico). He advised Schar (m.43) and Comert (m.59)

Incidents: last round of 16 matches of Qatar 2022 World Cup, played at Lusail stadium before 83,720 spectators.

see the match sheet

Sommer took two goal shots from him but his defense leaked. Switzerland blamed the loss of Nico Elvedi and his replacement, Fabian Schär, as a disaster to the point that Murat Yakin replaced him at half-time.

Switzerland, a team that stands out for its stability in all its lines, as seen against Brazil in the group stage, is a toy in the hands of Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and a Joao Félix who, has slots, completed an outstanding performance.

Even winger Diogo Dalot caught on to his team-mates’ excellent football and finished his run down the right providing an assist to the omnipresent Gonçalo Ramos.

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Another winger, Raphael Guerreiro, made it 4-0 by shooting past Sommer after a great counterattack. Gonçalo Ramos, how he was not helped and, although Manuel Akanji saved the Swiss honor with a corner, the Benfica striker completed his ‘hat trick’ receiving deep from Joao Félix and hitting Sommer with quality .

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For several minutes, the stands asked for CR7’s presence and Fernando Santos agreed. Pepe, his great friend, gave him a bracelet and Cristiano scored but his goal was disallowed for offside.

Recent entrant Rafael Leao completed the ‘set’ on the counter with a cut and shot with the house’s trademark thread.

Portugal showed today that they don’t need Cristiano but it will be necessary to see if Fernando Santos will sit him on the bench again against Morocco. Will he dare?