Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to be in a sombre mood on the Portugal bench on Saturday afternoon after watching his team fall behind to Morocco after Diogo Costa’s howler. The ex-Manchester United striker was left out of the starting team as Portugal attempted to book their place in the World Cup semi-finals.
They were heavy favourites to beat Morocco ahead of the quarter-final encounter after winning two of their group matches and thrashing Switzerland 6-1 in the last 16. But they fell behind just before the break as Youssef En-Nesyri headed home.
Portugal goalkeeper Costa, who plies his trade with Porto, came out of his goal in an attempt to deal with a dangerous cross from Morocco’s left. But he flapped as En-Nesyri got on the end of the delivery and diverted the ball into the back of the net.
Ronaldo had started all three of his country’s group matches and bagged his 118th international goal in their opening clash with Ghana. But he was dropped to the bench for both knockout matches in Qatar. And after the opening goal went in on Saturday, the former Real Madrid forward looked to the ground and pulled a frustrated face on the bench.
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And Santos then revealed that Ronaldo would have a role to play against Morocco. “Ronaldo will definitely [be involved]. All the players on the bench can be used. If they are not in the starting line-up they can play later.
“It is important to look at the example of this player’s history. He is one of the best players in the world at playing professionally, being captain. All we have to do is think about this team collectively.”
Ronaldo was eventually introduced to the action in the 51st minute, with his side still trailing 1-0. And Portugal attempted to turn the game on its head during the latter stages of the showdown.
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