Can Goncalo Ramos Make Portugal Forget Cristiano Ronaldo?

For the sole purpose of exposing Goncalo Ramos to the world, Fernando Santos has freed the Selecao by benching his captain and potentially improving their chances of winning the World Cup in the process.

But it wasn’t all rosy for Fernando Santos as had the risk backfired, he would have had angry Cristiano Ronaldo fan base up on his ass considering the noise chanting for the star was deafening in the stadium.

The Lusail Iconic Stadium crowd was quite pitifully cheering for Cristiano Ronaldo rather than applauding Portugal’s magnificent performance.

Fortunately, Fernando Santos was not amused. The Portugal coach wasn’t about to yield to popular sentiment while Ronaldo’s replacement, Goncalo Ramos, was causing mayhem because he had already benched his captain for his display of contempt against South Korea.

There was no chance that Santos would substitute the 21-year-old after he had already scored two goals and assisted in another. And it’s also fortunate since Ramos sealed a thrilling 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland by completing his hat-trick with a fantastic finish.

Rafael Leao, Pepe, and Raphael Guerreiro all scored excellent goals, and even Ronaldo made a late appearance. However, not even the illustrious No. 7 could compete with Portugal’s newest stunning sensation.

During the group stage, an obviously irritated Ronaldo gave a terrible performance, ending in him disrespecting Santos as he left the field against South Korea.

From a sporting and disciplinary stand point, his benching was completely deserved. However, given the personality we are discussing, this was still a monumental decision made by the coach.

Santos would have received harsh criticism if something had gone wrong from not only the world’s many Ronaldo followers but also from Portugal.

Santos made the right decision in benching the star for Goncalo Ramos, who went on to score a hat-trick and gave Portugal much more flexibility, fluidity, and power without the all-time leading scorer in the history of the international game.

Speaking of the man himself, Goncalo Ramos;

Given the controversy surrounding Santos’ selection, it is important to remember how much pressure Goncalo Ramos was under.

He was entrusted with taking Ronaldo’s place in a World Cup last-16 match at the age of just 21, in his maiden start for his nation. The striker for Benfica had only played 33 minutes of international football before to this match, but he only needed another 17 to demonstrate why he had been selected.

Ramos’ strike from the left side of the penalty box was released with such power that the Swiss goalkeeper literally had no chance despite the angle making it seem unlikely that the forward would beat the recalled Yann Sommer.

His third goal was a stunning dinked finish, while his second goal was a nice near-post finish.

Even Goncalo Ramos was amazed by his accomplishment as he dashed out to celebrate his hattrick. He had just become the first Portuguese player since Eusebio to score three goals in the World Cup knockout round.