Portugal vs Switzerland: Portugal qualified in style after defeating Switzerland 6-1 in the round of 16 of the World Cup.
The Portugal manager made the decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo, which proved to be the best decision after the round of 16 match, bringing to an end the 31 games Ronaldo has started for his country in all competitions.
Ronaldo was benched due to the fallout that happened between him and Portugal’s manager, Santos after he was substituted against South Korea.
In the absence of the star man, Portugal produced one of the best performances in the history of the World Cup as the country reached the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2006.
Goncalo Ramos, who was seven years old when Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal for Portugal at the age of 17, replaced Ronaldo in the starting lineup.
Ramos scored his debut World Cup goal against Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer in the 17th minute to open the scoring.
Ramos and Otavio tested the Switzerland goalkeeper Sommer and former Liverpool player Xherdan Shaqiri went close from a free kick.
Portugal got their advantage after veteran Pepe became the second oldest player behind Cameroon legend Roger Miller to score in the World Cup from the corner in the 33rd minute.
The Porto defender was left completely unmarked by the Swiss defenders.
Ramos, who has been impressive in the match, scored to end the first half.
Six minutes after the restart of the second half, Ramos scored a beautiful goal after receiving an excellent cross from Manchester United’s Diego Dalot.
Just before the hour, even left-back Raphael Guerreiro participated, rifling home an enticing Ramos assist, before Manuel Akanji stabbed home a consolation that hardly called for a celebration.
With the first hat-trick of this World Cup, Ramos transitioned back from assist to goal scorer, deftly chipping Sommer to reaffirm his manager’s faith.
Soon after, Ronaldo eventually came off the bench, but he could not do much with Rafael Leao’s magnificent corner in additional time just six minutes after he was introduced in the match.
The game showed that another young player, Goncalo Ramos, rather than Portugal’s senior statesman Ronaldo can take the centre stage in the remaining games of the World Cup.
Key Stats in Portugal vs Switzerland
Portugal scored six goals outside of the group stages for the first time in the biggest-ever World Cup knockout triumph.
Since Flórián Albert scored hattrick for Hungary in 1962, Gonçalo Ramos of Portugal becomes the first player to score a World Cup hat trick in the knockout round.
What next for Portugal and Switzerland
Portugal made it to the last eight and faces the strong and relentless African side Morocco on December 10, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. as they look forward to winning the tournament for the first time.
Switzerland, after going out of the tournament, will kick off the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers with a game against Belarus on March 23, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.
