Portugal flies without Cristiano

In the exuberant night of a Portugal that returns to the quarterfinals of a World Cup 16 years later and through the front door, after making a set against Switzerland, that unrepeatable star named Cristiano Ronaldo may have experienced the definitive turning point in his role with the Portuguese team. Days after, in addition, that his club career also suffered a vital turn when he said goodbye Manchester United and, possibly, top-flight football. Fernando Santos left Cristiano on the bench and he did it for the first time, at least admittedly, without rest or physical problem. And the Herois do Mar responded with a clear, tremendous win, which makes them like lightning in one of the favorite teams to win in Qatar.

Santos did not hide: noor he had liked that Cristiano made his change against South Korea ugly and he reacted sharply, perhaps because in surveys like the one in the newspaper A Bola, the Portuguese fans pushed him to give crack a break. To make matters worse, the substitute for CR7 filled the coach with reasons. Until the bars Gonçalo Ramos, a young Benfica forward of just 21 years of age who had played just 10 minutes in the tournament, rresponded to the demands to relieve the myth with a hat-trick from Matadoridentical to the many that Funchal has delighted us with.

Accustomed in other games to playing tran-tran, waiting for the rival and making him bitter little by little With the sound of fado, Portugal without Cristiano this time played rock and roll. At 1-0 (17′), Gonçalo controlled in the area, turned with agility and shot into the net before the veteran Yann Sommer could do nothing. This play of the first goal had been distributed by the colchonero Joao Félix who, very playful on the entire attack frontIt seemed as if it had been released from its bonds. As a free player, on the last pass and on the set pieces, Bruno Fernandes showed himself. The fantasist red devil served after half an hour a good corner for him to head (2-0, 33 ‘) in an unappealable way to goal a specialist for whom the years do not pass, nothing less than Pepe.

The Luso-Brazilian central defender is two years older than Cristiano, 39, but in this World Cup He has followed a path of reverse rejuvenation to his former teammate at Real Madrid. He started as a substitute, as a resource, but Danilo’s injury opened the doors of ownership and he has taken advantage of them.

As soon as the minimalist Switzerland woke up from the nightmare, loaded with footballers with years and to which it costs too much when they take it out of the script. Shaquiri was close to scoring from a free kick and Diogo Costa, one of the tournament’s goalkeepers, solved some more noise in his area before at the start of the second half Gonçalo Ramos will complete his hat-trick. There were several parentheses for another Portuguese goal by Borusser Raphael Guerreiro and for a testimonial goal, one of those who call honor pBut let’s see what honor remains, from the Helvetian Akanji. Also for Leao, another of the footballers called to make Cristiano forget, to complete his team’s set.

There was even time to see Ronaldo in his new role, that of substitute. With a face of circumstances, looking into infinity, Cristiano jumped onto the field and scored another goal, but he was clearly offside. A position that right now, although we have to wait for his genius for the quarterfinals and almost until when he wants, seems the most appropriate to define the situation of the Portuguese star.