Cristiano Ronaldo was the usual hot topic at Portugal’s pregame news conference at the FIFA World Cup 2022 on Monday — though the issues were hardly positive for his veteran coach to handle. Rumors of the star player sealing a transfer to a Saudi Arabian club. Fallout from Ronaldo’s bad body language on being substituted last week. A poll at home suggesting most fans don’t want him in the team ahead of playing Switzerland in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
Two of those subjects were swatted away by Fernando Santos, who has coached Portugal and coaxed his star player for more than eight years now. “I don’t really know about this, to be honest,” Santos said about a Spanish media report that Ronaldo will sign a much-speculated deal with Saudi club Al Nassr after being cut loose by Manchester United. “That’s his decision, that’s what he has to deal with.”
On the subject of Portuguese daily O Bola’s poll: “I’m not paying attention to polls or any other type of this news.”
Bring the ______. ___
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) December 5, 2022
_ LOADING: _____#VesteABandeira #WearTheFlag pic.twitter.com/OAivbX1Irx
However, the question of Ronaldo’s body language on being substituted midway through the second half of a 2-1 loss to South Korea on Friday moved Santos to assert his authority. “I didn’t like it, not at all. I really didn’t like it,” Santos said through an interpreter about images he hadn't seen during the match. “We fixed that in-house and that’s it.”
When asked if he still trusted his captain, Santos again showed who was boss in the Portugal camp. “I only decide who’s going to be the captain when I reach the stadium. I don’t know what the lineup is,” the coach said, insisting that was consistent with how he always communicated with his team.
Santos gave his explanations sitting beside defender Rúben Dias, who had earlier appealed to the Portuguese media to help “create unity” in the camp instead of division. At a World Cup where Kylian Mbappé is the top scorer and Lionel Messi has been thrilling fans with his goals and dribbles, the narrative around one of the other superstars in Qatar has been less smooth.
Ahead of the Portugal vs Switzerland FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16 match, find livestreaming details below…
The FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16 match between Portugal vs Switzerland will be played on Wednesday – 7 December at 12:30 AM IST.
The FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16 match between Portugal vs Switzerland will be played at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar.
The FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16 match between Portugal vs Switzerland will be telecast LIVE on Sports 18 channels in India.
The FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16 match between Portugal vs Switzerland can be livestreamed on Jio Cinema website and app. You can stream the FIFA World Cup 2022 for free in India.
Portugal: Diogo Costa, Joao Cancelo, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Neves, William Carvalho, Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix
Switzerland: Yann Sommer, Silvan Widmer, Nico Elvedi, Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez, Granit Xhaka, Remo Freuler, Xherdan Shaqiri, Djibril Sow, Ruben Vargas, Breel Embolo
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