Manager Fernando Santos Benched Cristiano Ronaldo For This Reason

Portugal won its Round of 16 match against Switzerland by a comfortable 6-1 margin and marched into the quarter-finals with flying colors. But all wasn’t well with the winning team. Portuguese manager Fernando Santos sent Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench for the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 game.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Cristiano Ronaldo was sent to the bench by his manager Fernando Santos
• Earlier the managers of Juventus and Manchester United had made the similar decision

What Went Wrong Between Portuguese Captain And Manager?

It would have been tough for Fernando Santos to make the big call of dropping Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench in an important knockout match but the decision made no impact on the team’s performance. And it wasn’t the first time that Ronaldo was sent to the bench.

What Football Pundits Have To Say About Ronaldo’s Dropping?

Manager Fernando Santos Benched Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo was earlier dropped by Juventus and Manchester United managers. The latest incident was with Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag. It was said that Erik Ten Hag tried to make a move on Ronaldo. The manager tried to establish his authority over Ronaldo.

Neville, who has played alongside Ronaldo for a brief period at Manchester United, said on ITV that was Jeventus manager wrong. Was Manchester United’s manager wrong? Was Portugal’s manager wrong? He blamed Ronaldo’s indifferent attitude towards Santos for the incident.

But the former Manchester United player also tried to defend Ronaldo by saying that Ronaldo’s long-term legacy was set. He called Ronaldo one of the great all-time players. He further said that in the short term, Ronaldo had got to do a lot better. He said that the … Read the rest

Portugal’s 3-1 Win Over Luxemburg Made Portuguese Coach Fernando Santos Furious

Portugal’s 3-1 win over Luxemburg lifted catapulted it to the top of Group A in its World Cup qualifying campaign. With seven points in hand, Portugal now stands at level with Serbia, but Luxemburg has to contend at third position with three points.

But Fernando Santos wasn’t satisfied with his team’s performance….

While the Portuguese team was celebrating their victory, their coach Santos was chiding his boys in the media. He said that they wasted the first 30-minutes playing at a walking pace with no intensity on either pitch. And that he had to ask the players that they won’t win the game on quality alone and they had to add intensity to their game.

Santos warned his boys that if they rely on their quality, any opponent could cause them difficulties. He said that in the second half they won every ball. They played with intensity and suddenly found that Luxemburg was a different team.

What made Fernando Santos furious?

Luxemburg was full of confidence after winning 1-0 at Ireland and it soon took lead over the European Champions when Gerson Rodrigues glanced a header at Portugal on the half-hour mark. But Portugal took more time in even equalizing the score.

The first goal for Portugal came in the second minute of the added time of the first half when Diogo Jota sent the ball into Luxemburg’s goalpost. Cristiano Ronaldo came running with Joao Cancelo to score the second goal in the 50th minute of the game. And the final goal was scored by substitute Joao Palhinha in the 80th minute.

Source:- https://bit.ly/3sCkLUI

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Credit For Juventus Winning Crotone Goes To Ronaldo

Juventus beat Crotone with 3-0 home win in a spectacular show of football especially by Cristiano Ronaldo who just missed his hat-trick in the match. Juventus now stands third in the standings in Serie A.

It was the first win in four matches in all competitions for Juventus. It got 45 points that catapulted the team to the third place from the sixth position. Now it is only 8 points behind the leader Inter Milan.

Ronaldo proved his worth in the team

Juventus Winning Crotone Goes To Ronaldo

In the starting, Juventus looked sluggish until Ronaldo charged to meet an Alex Sandro cross that he turned into a goal in the 38th minute to the game. And it was so sudden that Crotone even couldn’t understand what happened. It was a bullet-header straight into the goal.

A hungry Ronaldo looked unstoppable when he again charged for another bullet header in 45th minute, when he turned a failed header of Aaron Ramsey into a goal. At that time, he looked like showing his team how to play football. It was his second goal in the match and 18th in the league. He’s one goal ahead of Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku.

Ronaldo’s achievement

Ronaldo’s achievement

While the 36-year-old Portugal forward couldn’t complete his hat-trick, but he became the second player to score more sides after Zlatan Ibrahimovic since 2000. Crotone was the 78th different team in the Europe’s top five leagues Ronaldo scored against. The third goal was scored by Weston McKennie in the 66th minute. It was his fourth goal in Serie A series.

Source:- https://bit.ly/37EjRP2

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Ronaldo Scores 4 To Let Portugal Into Euro 2020 Qualifier

Portugal beat Lithuania by 5-1 in their Euro 2020 qualifier. The Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo gave the best performance of his life against the European Champions. He scored four goals at the time when the game turned frustrating.

Ronaldo’s superb performance

The 34-year old captain was playing his 161st international match of his football career when he gave a fantastic performance by delivering his eighth hat-trick for his team. It was the 54th remarkable match of his career that escaped Portugal from defeat.

What Portuguese coach said about Ronaldo?

Portugal coach Fernando Santos said that Ronaldo was the best player in the world and that it was proved beyond doubt. The coach seemed very happy and impressed from the performance of the captain.

Highlights of the match

• Portugal with 8 points became second in Group B
• It is 5 points behind Ukraine
• Lithuania is down with 1 point after the defeat
• Lithuania goalkeeper Ernestas Setkus gave an excellent performance

Turning point in the game

Lithuania team gave striking performance in the beginning and the match seemed to be going against Portugal. At one time, the Portuguese team became frustrated until their captain Ronaldo charged and changed the game with his superb performance.

Source: https://bit.ly/2kvYoCD

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