After a reported sour relationship between Portugal head coach, Fernando Santos and Cristiano Ronaldo, as a result of his being left out of the round of 16 tie with Switzerland, the media have been told to leave Ronaldo alone.
Santos had benched Ronaldo in the game that ended 6-1 with his replacement, Goncalo Ramos, banging an hat-trick and becoming the first player at this year’s world cup to do so.
Ronaldo has continued to dominate the headlines in the aftermath of his axing and was forced to deny a report which claimed he had threatened to leave Qatar in an exchange with his head coach.
Santos has sought to clarify the situation with Ronaldo himself ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final against Morocco and leapt to the defence of Portugal’s all-time record scorer.
“I think it’s high time to leave Ronaldo alone,” said Santos.
Ronaldo has endured a tough tournament in Qatar.
“He has never told me that he wanted to leave our national team and I think it’s high time we stopped with this conversation, that we stop with the polemics.”
Explaining how he broke the news that Ronaldo would be dropped, Santos said: “I spoke to him after lunch on the day of the game and invited him into my office.
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