Previously, at the biggest football festival on the planet in Qatar more than a year ago, Santos surprised the public by deciding to let Portugal’s number 1 star, Ronaldo, sit on the bench and gave striker Goncalo Ramos the opportunity to start.
Recently, in a conversation with APP, the 69-year-old strategist personally explained that Ronaldo is no longer suitable for Portugal’s tactics at the 2022 World Cup and affirmed that he wants to prioritize collective interests first. .
“I want to bring balance to the team and that is my own decision, having nothing to do with personal conflicts or political issues,” Santos said. “Leaving Ronaldo on the bench is purely my tactical intention. This decision may not cause much trouble if Portugal continues, I always put the team first.”
In the end, Ronaldo and his teammates had to stop in the quarterfinals after losing 0-1 to Morocco. As for the 38-year-old striker, the former Manchester United star has 1 goal in 4 matches.
In addition, Ronaldo’s performance in Qatar also caused him to be named in the worst squad of the 2022 World Cup group stage according to voting from Sofascore.
